Duveen's Strategic Art Sales

Craig Clemens shares the story of Joseph Duveen, considered the greatest art dealer of all time, who operated from around 1880-1935.

"Joseph Duveen was known as the greatest art dealer of all time. His sales methods were just unbelievable. One of his tactics was when a potential client would come to see him, he would leave him waiting for ninety minutes. He'd finally get the guy and say, 'Come upstairs with me.' He'd walk him into a corridor with five stunning paintings, then try to walk past them saying, 'I'm going to show you some things in the back.'

The client would stop and ask, 'What about these paintings?' Duveen would respond, 'Sir, those paintings are reserved for Mr. Mellon. Come this way, we need to get you something more suitable for your collection.' He'd make the client feel small, asking about their collection and saying, 'I haven't heard of any of those artists. That's cute. Let me show you a nice starter work.'

The client would ask how much Mellon was paying, but Duveen wouldn't sell him those paintings. He'd make him buy the starter piece first, then come back months later saying, 'I think I might be able to wrangle one of those paintings loose from Mr. Mellon, but the price will be outrageous.' Duveen's saying was, 'When you overpay for the priceless, you're getting it cheap.'

He was incredibly relentless. The way he met Andrew Mellon was on a cruise liner. He greased the staffer to seat him next to Mellon, but found out Mellon was a recluse who stayed in his room. So he started stalking the elevator, timing it to get in at the same time as Mellon. He'd make small talk, drop names like 'having brunch at the Duke of Carnegie's home,' and eventually invite Mellon to join him.

At these aristocratic homes, Mellon would see all the old master paintings and want to become like these dynastic families. When you became a top client of Duveen's, you were no longer allowed to use your own architect - you had to use his, who would design your house with very little windows and huge wall space, more than you'd ever need.

When clients ran out of wall space, Duveen started convincing them to open museums. The National Gallery in Washington was founded by Andrew Mellon at Duveen's urging. He told Mellon, 'The key to your immortality is building this gallery and having your work live on beyond you.' After Mellon passed, he convinced Henry Frick to add an even bigger wing to the National Gallery than Mellon's, stacked with Frick's art purchased from Duveen.

He was so ruthless that when competitors would visit his clients, he'd bribe the staff to tell him, then show up the same day saying, 'Just passing through, happened to be in the area,' and sit there all day so the competitor couldn't have a private meeting."