“Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money,” remarked Joseph Duveen. It was a simple observation, but there was only one man who was perfectly positioned to combine his English charm with an unparalleled gift for creative salesmanship, allowing him to convince the tight-fisted titans of Wall Street that there was indeed one thing more important than money – art – and, “when you pay high for the priceless, you’re getting it cheap”. Without Duveen, two of America’s three most highly rated museums – the Met in New York and the National Gallery in DC – would struggle, perhaps even fail, to be considered world-class today. But was he just a charismatic crook milking millionaires, or was he indeed truly deserving of the title, ‘world’s greatest art dealer’?
Mark Meredith is the founder of AmericanAristocracy.com and lectures regularly in Europe and the United States, notably at the New-York Historical Society. His real passion has always been history, and he delights in ‘telling a story,’ not ‘giving a lecture’. He takes a particular joy in bringing to life the stories behind people. His area of special interest lies in the great American houses and American social history, from pre-revolution to the end of the Gilded Age.