Page 10 - Metropolitan Museum Collection September 2016

Fig. 3. Benjamin Altman (1840-1913). Image courtesy of the Altman Foundation BENJAMIN ALTMAN (1840-1913)
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One of the large bequests of Chinese ceramics to enter the
Museum in the early 20th century came from Benjamin
Altman (1840-1913) (fg. 3), who was the founder of
one of the world’s great department stores – B. Altman &
Co. Altman was also a generous philanthropist and left to
the Metropolitan Museum the greatest bequest it had ever
received. Some of the more than 400 Chinese ceramics
that formed part of the bequest can be seen on display in a
photograph taken in 1926. These handsome porcelains, which
predominantly date to the 18th and 19th centuries, were, for
the most part, purchased from the well-known dealer Henry
J. Duveen. Altman also bequeathed some 51 old master
paintings to the Museum, which had mainly been purchased
from Henry’s brother – the colourful Joseph Duveen. These
included 13 Rembrandts as well as paintings by Hans Holbein,
Sandro Botticelli and Filippo Lippi.

Altman was the son of Bavarian Jews who had come to New
York in about 1835, and ran a dry-goods store. Altman
himself was born in New York, but had relatively little formal
education and helped in his father’s shop, before moving on
to work for another establishment in New Jersey. In about
1863 he and his brother Morris set up in partnership, but this
was curtailed by Morris’s death in 1876. Having taken over
Morris’s interest in the business, Benjamin Altman took the
company from strength to strength, moving in 1906 to the
impressive B. Altman & Co. building, which eventually took
up an entire Manhattan block bounded by Madison Avenue,
Fifth Avenue, 34th Street and 35th Street. The building is
now part of the City University of New York. Altman was
a very mild-mannered, intensely private man, with a horror
of publicity. He was also concerned about the welfare of
his employees and was one of the frst employers to provide
lunch, rest periods, and medical services. When he died in
1913, his personal fortune was estimated at around US$45
million (over $1 billion in today’s dollars). In addition to his
bequest to the Metropolitan Museum, he left outright gifts to
philanthropic institutions in New York City, including a gift
to the National Academy of Design to encourage American
painters. His will also left all his capital stock in B. Altman
& Co. to the Altman Foundation, which over the past 103
years has made over $303.7 million in grants to nonproft
organizations in New York City in Benjamin Altman’s
own areas of interest: education, health, strengthening
communities, and the arts.