The Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD, is hosting a lecture, “The Connoisseur and the Collector: The Bizarre Relationship Between Bernard Berenson and Henry Walters That Spawned a Museum,” by author Stanley Mazaroff on Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 6 p.m. Collecting Italian Renaissance paintings during America’s Gilded Age was fraught with risk because of the uncertain identities of the artists and the conflicting interests of the dealers. Stanley Mazaroff tells the intriguing story of the close, yet contentious, relationship between Henry Walters, founder of Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, and Bernard Berenson, the era’s pre-eminent connoisseur of Italian Renaissance paintings. The corporate sponsor for the lecture is PNC Wealth Management. The cost is $25 for Museum members and $30 for non-members.  To register for Museum programs and classes, visit www.academyartmuseum.org or call 410-822-2787.

In photo:  Pictured is the book, “Henry Walters and Bernard Berenson: Collector and Connoisseur,” by author Stanley Mazaroff, which will be featured at the Academy Art Museum’s lecture on Thursday, November 3 at 6 p.m.