William Merriam Bart Berger (1925-1999) was born in Denver, a fourth-generation Coloradan. Following family tradition, he built a career in finance, for which he was nationally recognized. Bernadette Joan Johnson Berger (1940-2015), also a Denver native, grew up in western Colorado and owned farms in Kansas She raised three daughters and worked as a securities trader and stockbroker. Long-time collectors and art patrons, they chose to collect British art because of a shared love of British culture nurtured through ancestral and professional connections. The Bergers were passionate about art's potential to educate and saw their collection as a resource for adults and children alike. As they observed, "We have always believed that art, as well as music, poetry, and literature, refreshes and enriches our lives." By making their collection accessible, the Bergers hoped to foster a deeper understanding of art and history and to provide viewers with new insights into the world and themselves.
Matthias Boyce, the artist's brother; gifted by him on 24 September 1914 to: Lilian Bassett L. Gowenlock; gifted on 5 April 1950 to: Eva Brice Private collection, United States Thomas Deans & Company, Tallahassee; sold to: William Merriam Bart Berger (1925-1999) and Joan Johnson Berger (1940-2015); in 1999 to: Berger Collection Educational Trust, Denver, Colorado, USA; gifted to: Denver Art Museum; to 2017
The Denver Art Museum, 600 Years of British Painting: The Berger Collection at the Denver Art Museum, 10 October 1998 - 28 March 1999
Denver Art Museum, 600 Years of British Painting: The Berger Collection at the Denver Art Museum, Denver 1998, p. 258, reproduced