Customer Reviews

Duveen: The Story of the Most Spectacular Art Dealer of All Time

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Excellent biography of a forgotten man and his times - a man that changed the way Americans collected European art. Funny, witty and appallingly honest. A must read for anyone serious about art buying.

While this book is enormously entertaining, it's value is limited as a serious work of history. The reality is; Lord Duveen, grandson of a blacksmith from Delft, who went on to be an English Baron, was much more of a hustler than this 1950's era fantasy makes him out to be. For a more modern take on Lord Duveen try: Artful Partners: Bernard Berenson and Joseph Duveen by Colin Simpson.

This book is a necessity if you are interested in the history of American art.
Presents heartbreaking insight into Berenson's mind.

While this book may not seem very interesting it was difficult to put down. The story of Duveen and his ability to amass great collections of art is fascinating; as is his ability to sell to some of the most powerful men that were instrumnetal in building the US economy. A diverse number of friends have read this everyone; has enjoyed it. Watch for his selling techniques - quite impressive!

This amusing read, describes Duveen's single-handed effort in creating America's most serious art collectors. Laying-out the process of cultivating a deep desire for the very best in fine art from Europe in America's richest, most insecure industrial giants. Duveen's plan unfolds; culminating in fantastically expensive, name-brand, catalogs and the pinnacle of his career, an art Museum in Washington, in which his clients, the industrial giants of the early 1900's, would achieve victory in their quest for immortality. All art sales associates and those considering art buying should read this book first.

This is one of the most fabulous books that you will ever read. At about 100 pages it is a fast read. Too fast. Duveen is the most amazing art dealer that the world will ever see and Behrman tells the life story of this undeniably interesting man with quick wit.

The book was just as advertised by Amazon, in a medium condition. All pages were complete and provided the information we were expecting about the unique history of this man. The cover was a bit tattered, but that was shown in the ad and was reflected in the price. Thank you.

This book was horrible! There was no logical order to the book because it is just a bunch of stories put together about Duveen. It is so boring, all the book does is talk about how dumb millionares were and how they were stupid enough to buy from Duveen and his crazy ways. This book was so bad, please save yourself the time and money and not buy this book.