and diverse collections. Musical interests H.O. Havemeyer was an amateur violinist. He was a student of noted violinist Frederick Mollenhauer. It was his daily recreation and he would frequently play for three hours a day. H.O. and Louisine Havemeyer held regular Sunday musicales at their home at 1 East 66th Street. Henry Osborne and other members of the family were major collectors of instruments. Some of the most important instruments they collectively owned were two violins: the 1723 Stradivari 'Kiesewette' (played by Maxim Vengerov, Ilya Gringolts, Stefan Jackiw, Philippe Quint and most recently Augustin Hadelich), 1737 Guarneri 'del Gesù' "King Joseph", and three cellos: 1711 Stradivari "Duport" (ex-Rostropovich), 1714 Stradivari "Batta" (ex-Piatigorsky and most recently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the 1743 Guadagnini "Havemeyer". Art collecting and Patronage H.O. Havemeyer's first art purchases were made during his visit in 1876 to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia with Samuel Colman. He bought carved ivory figures, Japanese lacquered boxes, silk, brocades, and sword guards. Typically his purchases were impulsive, numerous, and deeply personal. Both H.O. and Louisine had distinct tastes for art collecting that largely complemented each other. Both H.O. and Louisine had to be in agreement as to an object's worth for it to enter their now legendary collection. Louisine focused on collecting modern works by European painters, including the then-unappreciated Impressionists. She was most influenced by her close friend Mary Cassatt, who encouraged her to buy works by Edgar Degas and Claude Monet. Louisine would make 33 transatlantic crossings, returning from each major trip with a bounty of great western art. In her will, Louisine identified some 142 works as a bequest to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and empowered her children to give the museum's curators free rein. By the time they had finished an inventory of the Havemeyer's three-story Fifth Avenue home 1,967 works would be assimilated into the Met's holdings, identified as the H.O. Havemeyer Collection. The Havemeyer collection is represented throughout the galleries, but notably by the sheer volume of works present in the Impressionist collection. Some choice works from the Havemeyer collection are on view at the Shelburne Museum and the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Homes Hilltop, Greenwich, CT In 1889 H.O. Havemeyer purchased 90 acres on Palmer Hill Road in Greenwich, Connecticut, on which to build a country home. The parcel had been owned by the Palmer and