Book Rec of the Day 2/7/2007

BIOGRAPHIES

Remember those wonderfully long, juicy articles that appeared in The New Yorker years ago, often in several installments? Duveen’s first life took such form and was acclaimed by critic Edmund Wilson as “the best profile [the magazine] has ever printed.” Art dealer Joseph Duveen based his whole career on one simple observation: Europe had plenty of art and America had plenty of money. A fascinating story of how many of America’s mansions and museums came into their holdings.

DUVEEN: THE STORY OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR ART DEALER OF ALL TIME, by S. N. Behrman (1951; The Little Bookroom, 2003)