Duveen

by S.N. Behrman

'Astonishing . . . A masterful, deeply enjoyable work.' David Remnick, The New Yorker

Joseph Duveen was the world's most famous art dealer. His clients were amongst the most prominent and infamous Americans of the 20th century and included Mellon, Frick, Hearst and Morgan. If you weren't a client, chances are you were a nobody. Famous for his charm, shrewd salesmanship, relentless pursuit of the perfect objet d'art and his ability to command eye-watering prices - Duveen was as unique as one of his priceless Old Masters.

In this exceptional biography S. N. Behrman tells the story of Duveen's rise to prestige, from delftware peddler to selling the greatest European paintings to the greatest American millionaires. Duveen was a skilled salesman, enticing his well-heeled and business-savvy clients with visions of cultivation through acquisition of high-culture. He even laid the foundations for the great American museums of art, including the National Gallery and the Frick Collection, by persuading his clients to bequeath their purchases to the nation. Everyone wanted a Duveen, because a Duveen was so much more than a painting or a vase; it was a chance at immortality.

'A witty and hypnotically readable biography.' Clifton Fadiman

'Incredibly entertaining.'Edmund Wilson

Genres: Art, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Art History

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Samuel Nathaniel Behrman was an American playwright, screenwriter, biographer, and longtime writer for The New Yorker. His son is the composer David Behrman.

Reviews

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm already missing the time i spent reading about this generous person. I feel richer from this reading. Curious, witty, genius are some words i'd used to describe Duveen.

The book is very well organised and brings colorful details of a life that seemed to be only amazing!!!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at a used book store because the name rang a bell in connection with Isabella Stewart Gardner. I was fascinated to learn that, in Duveen's word, Mrs. Gardner was a lightweight art collector. This is one of the most fascinating books I've ever picked up - written in the early 50s, this biography tells the story of the man who single-handedly "transformed America's taste in art." Based on the simple observation that Europe has a lot of art, and America has a lot of money, he bought and sold the greatest of the great paintings to big-shots like Mellon, Kress, Frick, Rockefeller, Altman and Widener for phenomenal sums. Those paintings are now the cornerstones of the National Gallery, and many other American museums.

With anecdote after anecdote of Duveen's audacious tactics (such as lending millions of dollars worth of art to a buyer whom, he knew, would insist on buying them even during the Depression), the author provides witty and amusing insights into the fabulous lives of Duveen, Berenson (his own personal art-historian) and great American philanthropists.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gem of a short period-piece bio about the greatest pre-war art dealer in the world. Sparkles with name-dropping and wit.

[flaminia · Rating 4 out of 5]

duveen, il re degli antiquari, della serie: come ti educo i cafoni arricchiti. scritto demmerda, ma gli intrallazzi e gli inciuci sono godibilissimi.

[Benedict Ness 📚 · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining portrait of a larger-than-life character, responsible for introducing fine European art at eye-watering prices to an emerging class of American millionaires.

Very flattering, I smell bias. Doesn’t highlight any of his flaws or shortfalls, and there must have been some.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. I knew nothing of Joe Duveen and he is portrayed brilliantly in this biography. If you have even a fleeting interest in art, art collections, art collectors, and museums, this engaging book is a must-read. Highly recommend.

[Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a life! Insightful and written in a style that matches
the “high life” of the early 20th century. As much a portrait of the man as the reality cum fantasy he helped create for the wealthiest and saddest men in America. Duveens methods reverberate into the present like an infinitely seismic wave of grand abstract value.

[Moritz Alkofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

6/5 stars!
✨⭐️🌟💫🌠🎖️

[Blanca di Gropello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Very interesting anecdotes about the most famous marchante d’art

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elegantly written New Yorker profile, an account of the art dealer who realized that Europeans had fine collections of art but needed cash, while American millionaires would pay good money for art that would give them class and that they they could leave as their legacy. He carefully groomed his buyers and made sure they understood he was the only dealer who could get them the finest works. I grew up going to the Huntington Library in San Marino so I especially enjoyed the account of how Duveen obtained it for H. E. Huntington, after he saw a reproduction of it and realized he had to own it. Duveen just happened to have contacts who let him know that the Duke of Westminster might be persuaded to sell.....

[Segese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Duveen'in yaşam öyküsüyle birlikte ilerleyen kitap, Amerika'daki sanat koleksiyonerliğinin gelişimi hakkında bilgiler sunuyor. Duveen'in Londra, Paris gibi topladığı eserleri Amerika'ya getirip satış işine New York'taki amcasının dükkanında başlamıştır. Duveen'in sanat piyasalarıyla oynaması, eseri ortaya çıkaran ressamın veya heykeltraşın isminin yanısıra o eserin Duveen eseri olup olmaması bile o eserin satışında ne kadar etkili olduğunu göstermektedir. Duveen, Mellon, Huntington, Rockefeller,Kress, Morgan gibi Amerika'nın önde gelen isimlerine tablolar satmıştır. Bunun yanısıra eser sattıkları kişilere bir prestij de sağlamaktadır çünkü aldığı eser Duveen eseridir. Ayrıca Mellon'a kurdurttuğu Washington Ulusal Sanat Müzesi ile eserleri ve adı ölümsüzlüğüne ulaşmıştır.

[Peter]

Clifton Fadiman and Edmund Wilson provided the blurbs on the back of this, so I was a little disappointed by the hagiographic treatment of the robber barons. Still it was worth reading; the twisted path that the works of the great masters followed to get to this country casts a different tint on museums. It almost makes me resent them for the noblesse oblige. Though I guess I'd still take the National Gallery's association with tycoons over the louvre's association with french imperialism.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read. Duveen was the art dealer of choice to all the major industrial titans of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, including Mellon, Kress, Rockefeller, Morgan, Frick, Altman etc., which provides the reader with a great view of how and why these men of great wealth decided to (or were convinced by Duveen to) acquire large collections of art. It is particularly enjoyable as a New Yorker as most of these men lived in Manhattan and the book is littered with references to the city.

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the biography of one of the most influential art dealers in the history of Americans Museums. This man single handily, with a "little" help of such magnates as the Mellons and Fords and Rockefeller, brought the Grand Masters to the US. The National Gallery in Washington DC would not be the Museum it now is with out Duveen. A hateful, lovable brilliant character, is not a creation of an author's imagination, but a larger than life, real person. A fantastic, biography.

[Ben Kruskal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book about a subject I'd never have picked-the history of the business of selling great art in the early 20th century. Delightfully written, amusing and fascinating. Such fun that whenever I come across a copy I pick it up to give to someone.

[Anca R · Rating 4 out of 5]

O poveste adevarata despre colectionarii de arta bogati ai Americii inceputului de secol XX si dealerul care le-a deschis gustul catre pictura europeana, Joseph Duveen, spusa de si in stilul unui reporter american.

[Margaret Vest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read about this book in the New Yorker, and it definitely reads like a long New Yorker article. A lot of wonderful anecdotes about this incredible character, not really bothered with chronology or any other type of sequence. Really pleasant read.

[Sophie Speake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun!

[Anne Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing insight into how and why the big collectors bought what they did (and for how much!- the numbers still seem astronomical).

[Paola]

la traduzione rizzoli del 1953 era di gabriella alzati

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular insight to the deals and trades of famous paintings and how to manipulate buyers.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Europe had plenty of art and America had plenty of money, and his entire astonishing career was the product of that simple observation."

About as good a read as you could hope for, assuming you like old paintings and can appreciate skilled salesmanship. Talking about the purchasing and selling of great paintings screams for pictures. Fortunately, living in the 21st century, we can just look up images on the internet.

This book was a great find and I enjoy the thought, that it's not a book so easily discovered these days, I would think. How did others discover this book, about the art dealing world between 1880 and 1939? I discovered it while reading yet another book on investing, when the author mentioned reading the book (the author was a hedgefund manager whose name I forgot). In other words, I was reading one of the lesser known investment books and found there mentioned a book about an art dealer from 100 years ago. Which led to me reading it. Glad I did.

The author, Berhman, certainly enjoyed writing this biography of the colorful Joe Duveen. His vocabulary is filled with 5-dollar words and there are a few words, that I would bet not 1/200 native English speakers would confidently claim to know.

Man, there are some gems in here.

[...] "the emperors of oil and steel, of department stores and railroads and newspapers, of stocks and bonds, of utilities and banking houses, had trained themselves to talk slowly, pausing lengthily before each word and especially before each verb, in order to keep themselves from sliding over into the abyss of commitment."

Or how is this: J.P. Morgan wanted to test Duveen's knowledge of Chinese porcelain.
"Morgan wanted Joseph Joel to see five Chinese porcelain beakers he had just bought.
[Morgan:] 'Three of them are authentic and two of them are reproductions. Now, if you’re such an authority, which are which?’ Joseph Joel peered at the beakers, then lifted his walking-stick and smashed two of them. He offered, if he’d broken good ones, to pay for them. Morgan was relieved to find that he could not collect."

Besides Duveen, you'll read about some of the people Duveen did business with, for example Andrew Mellon and a chain store owner Samuel Henry Kress, as well as a more elaborate section on Bernard Berenson. Berenson was an expert on Italian Renaissance art and there is a poignant reflection on his career. A highly educated man, living in Italy, surrounded by books and paintings, who spoke multiple languages. It left an impression.

[Gemma Milne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to Hatchard’s Piccadilly a few weeks ago, climbed up to the fifth floor’s art section, and asked for a recommendation for learning about the art world. The wonderful American gentleman behind the desk, looking at the selection I’d gathered already, said to me in the most gentle way: “I’d be far more comfortable if you’d start with this biography of Duveen.”

And so I started with this and oh god he was right. What a magnificently written account (it’s actually a compilation of New Yorker articles from the 1950s), with plenty of commentary on status, class, peacocking, value and competition, and of course, a brilliant introduction (based on my very limited understanding) to a world which previously felt so alien to me.

I recommend this book 100%, but even more so, I recommend chatting to people who work in book shops. They are the most passionate, fascinating, helpful people (who should be paid more...) who I find are always so keen to send you off on the most magnificent of adventures.

[Dodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite part of S.N. Behrman's Duveen is the charming artwork by Saul Steinberg. It's unbelievable to read about the wheelers and dealers in the art world spending millions of dollars during the depression. I think I would've enjoyed the name dropping and art discussions much more otherwise. It seems like Joseph Duveen, an art dealer, single-handedly inflated the value of artworks by overbidding on them at auctions. As he lived in New York, London, and Paris, he acquired pieces in Europe and sold them in America. Andrew Mellon, Henry Frick, and JP Morgan were among his clients. It was fascinating to read about Duveen's involvement in the Frick mansion, now a museum in New York. Many of the artworks he sold to American millionaires wound up in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Although I found Duveen's sales tactics repellant, he probably prevented some of these artworks being destroyed in WWII.

[Caiper Popen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duveen's approach to negotiation was fascinating, and his perception of value was exceptionally brilliant.

After reading this book, I found myself intrigued by how Duveen conducted his negotiations and valued his deals. It was fascinating to discover that, instead of lowering prices to attract buyers, he would often raise them. While I understand the market dynamics, it still amazes me how this strategy worked, giving me a newfound appreciation for the field Duveen excelled in. He was truly a master of negotiation.

Once Duveen had a deep understanding of his target, he would carefully decide which masterpiece to purchase, knowing exactly how to sell it to them.

[Sandy Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect with Duveen and while I was told it would be great to help with sleeping, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Duveen felt more like a shrewd businessman (with a bit of an ego) more than what I imagined an art dealer would be. I found it interesting that Berenson was covered in his book extensively but Duveen isn't even in Berensons. This book delivered and has sparked my interest in the world of art.

[Christine Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Had he bought the pictures directly from Goldman, he would have saved millions. But then he wouldn't have had the warm feeling of owning a lot of Duveens."

5 stars

This is one of those rare non-fiction books that reads like a well crafted story. Duveen in all of his quirky, at times eccentric personality comes to life in these very readable pages. If you're interested in how any of the great European works managed to make their way to the US, Duveen holds a lot of the answers.

[Katie Bruell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read for me because my great-grandfather is in it. :) He was Duveen's comptroller for a little while. It's also fun to read about the famous names on banks, museums, etc., when they were people and not just famous names (Mellon, Frick, Huntington, Stanford, etc.). Duveen was quite a character and I enjoyed hearing about his exploits.

[Brittany Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It never occurred to me to wonder how the amazing art in museums like the National Gallery and The Frick Collection came to be in America in the first place. The story of the art dealer Duveen and his famous and fantastically wealthy clients was beyond fascinating. To top it off S.N Behrman’s writing is clever and filled with wit. Really transportive. 10/10

[Anthony Veale · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most revealing analysis of the psychology used by a charmed and persuasive dealer to power a category of art to stratospheric valuations: the key to success an abundance of limitless funds of new money with nowhere to go.