B. Toklas. Their social circle included French artist Henri Matisse and Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. Etta began purchasing art in 1898, when she was given $300 by a brother to brighten up the family home. Her purchase of five impressionistic paintings by Theodore Robinson began a lifetime of collecting. Her tastes at first tended toward the conservative, but one day in 1903, while the Cone sisters were on a European holiday, they visited Stein and her brother in Paris. Etta was introduced to Picasso followed by Matisse the next year, marking the beginning of her lifelong love of his art. The relationship the Cone sisters developed with Matisse over the years was so close he referred to them as "my two Baltimore ladies." Matisse once did a sketch of Etta. Etta made purchases to help climbing artists like Matisse, Picasso, and – at home – students of the Maryland Institute College (MICA). She also bought at very low prices from the Steins, who were perpetually in need of money and were known to purchase discarded sketches from Picasso at his art studio for two or three dollars apiece to take home. Claribel acquired much more experimental grade works. She purchased Matisse's Blue Nude for 120,760 francs and Paul Cézanne's mountain painting Mont Sainte Victoire as Seen From Bibemus Quarry for 410,000 francs. Etta, being more financially conservative, was more likely to spend 10,000 francs for a collection of drawings or paintings. The Cone sisters had a special interest in Matisse's Nice period. After Claribel's death, Etta became more adventurous in her purchases, for instance, purchasing Matisse's Large Reclining Nude (The Pink Nude) for 9,000 francs in 1936, or about $2,000 US at the time (). Gertrude Stein and her older brother Leo Stein had been orphaned in 1892 and relocated to Baltimore to reside with their mother's sister. This had led to their becoming part of the Cone sisters' social crowd. During Claribel's time at the Women's Medical College of Johns Hopkins University, Gertrude was also studying there. There was a large age gap between Claribel and Gertrude. These individualistic women were attracted to each other, however, by their common interest in music, fine arts, and sociable conversations. Etta credited Leo with helping her develop an appreciation of modern art. Etta was more reserved. She admired Gertrude's Bohemian lifestyle, and biographer Brenda Richardson concludes that there is a strong possibility