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This is a biography of Otto Kahn (1867 - 1934). A partner at one of America's premier private banks, he played a leading role in reorganizing the US railroad system and supporting the Allied war effort in World War I. The German-Jewish Kahn was also perhaps the most influential patron of the arts the nation has ever seen: he helped finance the Metropolitan Opera, brought the Ballets Russes to America, and bankrolled such promising young talent as poet Hart Crane, the Provincetown Players and the editors of the ""Little Review"". This book chronicles Kahn's life and times and reveals his singular place at the intersection of capitalism and modernity. Drawing on research in private correspondence, congressional testimony and other sources, Collins paints a portrait of the figure whose seemingly incongruous identities as banker and benefactor inspired the ""New York Times"" to dub him the ""Man of Steel and Velvet"".