Albert Eugene Gallatin: A Pioneer of American Modern Art Early Life and Family Background Born: Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1881. Gallatin came from a wealthy and socially prominent family. His great-grandfather was Albert Gallatin, a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury. He developed an early interest in art and literature, beginning to collect works by artists like Max Beerbohm and James McNeill Whistler while still a teenager. Artistic Development and Influences Initially drawn to the decorative q…