"British art dealer Joseph Duveen once said, rather astutely: 'Europe has a great deal
of art, and America has a great deal of money.'"
of art, and America has a great deal of money.'""Starting in the late 1800s, in London first, later New York, the Duveen family sold precious European Old Master paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, to rich American collectors. For the first half of the 20th century, Duveen was arguably the world's greatest art dealer and some of the greatest works of art in America got here thanks to the Duveens."
"American mega-millionaire Norton Simon (whose businesses included Hunt-Wesson Foods, Canada Dry and Avis) started collecting art in 1954. In the 1960s, the business mogul bought up the House of Duveen lock, stock and barrel. In Southern California, an exhibition at Pasadena's Norton Simon Museum tracks the Duveen-Simon connection. It was an ambitious act of commerce — and, maybe, love."