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

~ (Author) "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..." (more)
Key Phrases: rival dealer, buying pictures, smuggling case, Uncle Henry, New York, Joseph Joel (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Originally published as a serial in The New Yorker, this is the dramatic true-life tale of the man who single-handedly built some of the world's great art collections. "You can get all the pictures you want at fifty thousand dollars - that's easy. But get pictures at a quarter of a million apiece - that wants some doing." Joseph Duveen's words were not idle chat, as this evocative chronicle of the legendary character shows. A virtuoso salesman who died in 1939, Duveen exploited the simple idea that Europe had art and America had money. The story of his masterful maneuvering against competitors (including the czar of Russia) and his manipulation of American industrialists - first to buy, then to bequeath, major art collections - makes for rousing reading.

About the Author

SAMUAL N. BEHRMAN (1893-1973), the son of a Jewish grocer, studied drama at Harvard and Columbia Universities. Before achieving success as a playwright, he worked at The New York Times, but was fired after it was discovered that the entertaining responses he was writing for the "Queries and Answers" section were to questions that he himself had submitted. He was acclaimed for the rarefied wit of plays such as "Wine of Choice," "The Second Man," and "End of Summer," and was also the author of a biography of Max Beerbohm. Upon his death, friends in show business remembered him as "the eighth of the seven lively arts."

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Little Bookroom (March 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892145170
• ISBN-13: 978-1892145178
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,372 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #90 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Artists, Architects & Photographers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Duveen's divine, December 15, 1999

By	Kim Anstatt (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duveen (Hardcover)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Is it real or is it Duveen?, February 9, 2004

By	KSG "ksgnyc" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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.

5.0 out of 5 stars a must read for art sellers and buyers, May 3, 2008

By	Martha J. Weil - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.