Historical significance, celebrity provenance, fine art:
"Gothic Art in the Gilded Age" at the
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art delivers in each category.
It's a romp through the drawing rooms of the privileged classes and the habits of wealthy Americans bent on assembling instant collections of great art by wresting it from the faltering European nobility in the early 20th century.
It's the story, told in microcosm, of the formative roots of the great U.S. museums.
Read the complete
story.