The Days of Duveen

S N Behrman | The New Yorker | 27th May 2018

From the New Yorker archives, a gorgeous essay on Joseph Duveen, the legendary art dealer. Of a year long campaign to sell some busts to John D Rockefeller: “In all love affairs, there comes a moment when desire demands possession. For Rockefeller, this occurred on the day before the option expired … he informed Duveen that he was buying the busts at a million and a half.”