S. N. Behrman’s 1951 Profile of the art dealer Joseph Duveen, whose clients included J. P. Morgan, Henry Clay Frick, and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. NewYorkerArchive
When Joseph Duveen, the most spectacular art dealer of all time, travelled from one to another of his three galleries, in Paris, New York, and London, his business, including a certain amount of his stock in trade, travelled with him. His business was highly personal, and during his absence his establishments dozed. They jumped to attention only upon the kinetic arrival of the Master.
It was one of the crosses Duveen had to bear that the temperaments of the men he dealt with in this country were the direct opposite of his own. The great American millionaires of the Duveen Era were slow-speaking and slow-thinking, cautious, secretive—in Duveen’s eyes, maddeningly deliberate.
In Paris, Duveen often got frantic letters from his comptroller in New York imploring him to stop buying. Duveen, who was never as elated by a sale as he was by a purchase, usually laid out over a million dollars on his annual trip abroad, and occasionally three or four times that sum. These immoderate disbursals of money paralleled the self-indulgence of Morgan.
In Paris, Duveen always stayed at the Ritz. A permanent guest at this hotel, with whom Duveen had many encounters over the years, was Calouste S. Gulbenkian, the Armenian oil Croesus. Gulbenkian, who controls now, as he controlled then, a good deal of the oil in Iraq, is often said to be the richest man in Europe, and possibly in the world, and possesses one of the world’s most valuable art collections. Of all his achievements, perhaps the most chic is that he several times outmaneuvered Duveen.
Widener, unnecessarily complicating matters for himself, mentioned the fact that Youssoupoff not only had signed the contract but also had sent him a cable confirming the closing of the deal. When Widener was asked to produce the cable, he couldn’t find it. “I concede that the cable couldn’t be found,” Shearn said generously, “because it appears quite plain that such a cablegram was never sent.
Each time Duveen arrived in New York from London, there were fanfares of publicity for him and his most recent fabulous purchases.
Although the French painter Bouguereau represented the kind of art that Duveen was eager to displace, he was flexible enough to make use of him in order to bring the education of the Duveen clientele up to his level. A highly visible nude by the French master was used by Duveen as an infinitely renewable bait to bring the customers who successively owned it sensibly to rest in the fields in which Duveen specialized.
日本 最新ニュース, 日本 見出し
Similar News:他のニュース ソースから収集した、これに似たニュース記事を読むこともできます。
New Star Wars Character Profile Hints At Secrets Of Ahsoka's Mysterious InquisitorStar Wars offers new hints about Ahsoka's mysterious Inquisitor foe, Marrok, in a character profile teasing the upcoming Disney+ TV show.
続きを読む »
East Pennsboro alum traded to Colorado Rockies in high-profile MLB deadline moveThe former Panthers star is reportedly headed to Colorado in a trade that garners the Los Angeles Angels CJ Cron and Randal Grichuk, and will now join Red Land graduate and 2021 first-round pick Benny Montgomery in the organization.
続きを読む »
Trump enjoys a 37-point lead in high-profile poll of GOP presidential fieldFormer President Donald Trump trounces his GOP rivals by whopping margins across all demographic groups ahead of the 2024 race, according to a poll released Monday that underscores the tall task for his primary challengers.
続きを読む »
Pee-wee Herman Actor Paul Reubens Dies After ‘Privately’ Battling CancerBREAKING: Paul Reubens, the actor behind the iconic Pee-wee Herman character has died after succumbing to cancer. “Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit,” a post on his Instagram page read.
続きを読む »
Florida may become first state to accept a ‘classical’ alternative to the SAT and ACTFlorida’s embrace of the Classic Learning Test for college admissions follows a high-profile dispute between the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the College Board, which administers the SAT.
続きを読む »