Leo Stein (May 11, 1872 – July 29, 1947) was an American art collector and critic. He was born in

Allegheny City Allegheny City was a municipality that existed in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania from 1788 until it was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907. It was located north across the Allegheny River from downtown Pittsburgh, with its southwest border formed by ...

(now in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

), the older brother of

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

. He became an influential promoter of 20th-century paintings.

Education and career

Beginning in 1892, he studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, for two years. The following year, he traveled the world with his cousin, Fred. In 1897, he transferred to

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1898. Stein spent a number of years living in Paris with his sister. In 1914, the two separated due to Leo's resentment of Gertrude's infatuation with Alice B. Toklas, whom he described as "a kind of abnormal vampire". Stein returned to America to work as a journalist but eventually settled near

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico a ...

, with his long-time love interest, Nina Auzias. They eventually married in 1921.James R. Mellow, ''Charmed Circle: Gertrude Stein and Company'' Retrieved November 27, 2008
/ref> Stein died of cancer in 1947 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. Auzias committed suicide two years later.

Publications

*Stein, Leo
''Appreciation: Painting, Poetry, and Prose''
1947. Reprint. University of Nebraska Press, 1996. *Stein, Leo. ''The A-B-C of Aesthetics''. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1927. *Stein, Leo. "Pablo Picasso." ''The New Republic'' (April 23, 1924): p. 229-230.

References

Sources

* Wineapple, Brenda. ''Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein''. London: Putnam, 1996. *''Four Americans in Paris: The Collections of Gertrude Stein and Her Family''. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1970.
Barnet, Andrea, "The Moderns". ''The New York Times''. June 2, 1996.
Retrieved July 22, 2012.

External links

* Leo Stein Collection. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. 1872 births 1947 deaths Gertrude Stein American art patrons American emigrants to Italy American people of German-Jewish descent {{philanthropist-stub