Rogues' Gallery: The Rise (and Occasional Fall) of Art Dealers, the Hidden Players in the History of Art

by Philip Hook

Overview

Here for the first time is the history of art dealers, those extraordinary men and woman who, over centuries (and almost entirely out of the public eye), built their profession on a singular skill: identifying the intangible but infinitely desirable qualities that characterize the greatest works of art—and finding clients for whom those qualities are irresistible.

Philip Hook’s riveting narrative takes us from the early days of art dealing in Antwerp, where paintings were sold by weight, to the unassailable hauteur of contemporary galleries in New York, London, Paris, and beyond. Along the way, we meet a surprisingly wide-ranging cast of characters—from tailors, spies, and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, and connoisseurs, some compelled by greed, some by their own vision of art—and some by the art of the deal.

Among them are Joseph Duveen, who almost single-handedly brought the Old Masters to America; Paul Durand-Ruel, the Impressionists’ champion; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; Leo Castelli, dealer-midwife to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby’s chairman who made a theater of the auction room.

Rogues’ Gallery bursts with unforgettable anecdotes and astute judgments about art and artists, honed by Hook’s more than forty years in the art market—making it essential reading for anyone interested in the hidden history of art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615194162
Publisher:	The Experiment, LLC
Publication date:	10/31/2017
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,056,720
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Philip Hook has over forty-five years of expertise in the art market as a dealer and auctioneer, most recently as a board member and senior director of the Impressionist & Modern Art department at Sotheby’s in London. He has appeared regularly as an expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. With a degree in the history of art from Cambridge, Hook joined Christie’s in 1973, heading their 19th Century Paintings department from 1980 to 1987. He is the author of Popular Nineteenth Century Painting; five successful novels set in the art world; The Ultimate Trophy, a history of the Impressionist market and a Financial Times Book of the Year; Breakfast at Sotheby’s, named a Book of the Year by The Sunday Times, The Spectator, Financial Times, The Guardian, and Mail on Sunday; and Rogues’ Gallery: The Rise (and Occasional Fall) of Art Dealers, the Hidden Players in the History of Art.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I Renaissance and Enlightenment

1 Agents and Merchants: Dealing before 1700 7

2 Crooks and Connoisseurs: The Eighteenth Century 23

Part II The Nineteenth Century

3 The Art of Speculation: William Buchanan 43

4 Ernest Gambart and the Victorian Art Boom 61

Part III Modern Times

5 Joseph Duveen: The Salesman as Artist 79

6 The Wildenstein Dynasty 101

7 Selling the New: Paul Durand-Ruel 115

8 The Enrichment of Ambroise Vollard 133

9 Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler: Dealer as Purist 149

10 The Fox and the Shrimp: The Rosenberg Brothers 167

11 Terrorists and Tastemakers: More French Dealers 181

12 From Cassirer to Berggruen: The Germans 191

13 Gentlemen and Players: The British 203

Part IV Into the Contemporary World

14 Peter Wilson and the Invention of the Modern Art Market 219

15 The Art of Shopping: Dealing in the USA 243

16 Leo Castelli and the American Dream 255

17 The Cutting Edge 269

Bibliography 275

Acknowledgments 284

Permissions Acknowledgments 285

Index 287

Editorial Reviews

"Read like a roll call of rakes and eccentrics. . . . This all reads like an entertaining yarn overheard in the nook of a Mayfair bar. . . . Hook has a Jeeves-like talent for understatement. . . . Illuminating. . . . combines expertise with irreverence."

Christian House

"Praise from the UK for Rogues’ Gallery

"This expert and elegant history of art dealers provides background to today’s art world, funded by ‘idiots with pretensions’. . . . Fascinating and elegantly written. . . . He guides us expertly through . . . dealership. . . . Excellent overview of the history of art dealing. . . . The whole of Rogues’ Gallery is richly seeded with his expertise and insider knowledge. . . . Both wise and timely: There never was a moment when the old adage ‘caveat emptor’ seemed more apt."

William Boyd

"Hook is not a curmudgeon. . . . he is a writer of wit and offers anecdotes generously. . . . There are overt and covert cynical reflections throughout. . . . Hook bares teeth at art-world euphemisms."

Josh Spero

"[An] entertaining and perceptive look at the workings of the fine-art trade . . . that will interest even the most casual of art lovers."

Booklist

"A parade of charlatans, crooks, and visionaries in this lively 2,000-year history of art dealing . . . fascinating. . . . Hook writes with honesty and wry detachment. . . . almost no character escapes Hook unmauled."

Robert Eustace

"Full of colorful characters, a pleasure to read. . . . [He] turns his wry eye on dealers. . . . and the dealers’ personality, as he shows in his short biographies of the leading historical exponents, Hook incorporates every trait from cunning and charisma to scholarliness and subterfuge."

Michael Prodger

"Hook knows what he is talking about. . . . the book catches fire. . . . [Hook] writes suavely and racily. . . . has a fabulous ear for anecdotes. . . . and his entertaining book has a Wodehousian tone that makes even the most heinous act it describes glint with comedy."

Waldemar Januszczak

"Rogues’ Gallery is consistently light, engaging, and fluently assembled."

The Wall Street Journal

"He writes better about the physical nature and impact of painting than anyone I have read for years."

Grey Gowrie

"Fascinating. . . . candid. . . . very relevant. . . . Philip Hook is extremely well qualified to deal with his chosen subject."

Edward Lucie-Smith

"Wonderfully entertaining. . . . full of cracking stories and preposterous characters. . . . Philip Hook . . . has a front-row seat and a backstage pass to this arcane and obsessively secretive profession."

Hannah Rothschild

"Fascinating. . . . Refreshing."

Roger Lewis Roger Lewis

"Fascinating. . . . Refreshing."

Roger Lewis

Rogues’ Gallery is consistently light, engaging and fluently assembled.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Noteworthy, enlightening, well informed, and readable, this masterly book by an expert art dealer and auctioneer belongs in many large, public, academic, and special library visual arts collections.”—Library Journal, starred review

“A lively exploration of the history of art and the tastemakers and dealers whose influence in shaping it is often overlooked.”—Kirkus

“[An] entertaining and perceptive look at the workings of the fine-art trade . . . that will interest even the most casual of art lovers.”—Booklist

Praise from the UK for Rogues’ Gallery

“This expert and elegant history of art dealers provides background to today’s art world, funded by ‘idiots with pretensions’. . . . Fascinating and elegantly written. . . . He guides us expertly through . . . dealership. . . . Excellent overview of the history of art dealing. . . . The whole of Rogues’ Gallery is richly seeded with his expertise and insider knowledge. . . . Both wise and timely: There never was a moment when the old adage ‘caveat emptor’ seemed more apt.”—William Boyd, Guardian

“Hook knows what he is talking about. . . . the book catches fire. . . . [Hook] writes suavely and racily. . . . has a fabulous ear for anecdotes. . . . and his entertaining book has a Wodehousian tone that makes even the most heinous act it describes glint with comedy.rdquo—Waldemar Januszczak, Sunday Times

“Wonderfully entertaining. . . . full of cracking stories and preposterous characters. . . . Philip Hook . . . has a front-row seat and a backstage pass to this arcane and obsessively secretive profession.”—Hannah Rothschild, Mail on Sunday

“Read like a roll call of rakes and eccentrics. . . . This all reads like an entertaining yarn overheard in the nook of a Mayfair bar. . . . Hook has a Jeeves-like talent for understatement. . . . Illuminating. . . . combines expertise with irreverence.”—Christian House, Observer

“Full of colorful characters, a pleasure to read. . . . [He] turns his wry eye on dealers. . . . and the dealers’ personality, as he shows in his short biographies of the leading historical exponents, Hook incorporates every trait from cunning and charisma to scholarliness and subterfuge.”—Michael Prodger, Times

“A parade of charlatans, crooks, and visionaries in this lively 2,000-year history of art dealing . . . fascinating. . . . Hook writes with honesty and wry detachment. . . . almost no character escapes Hook unmauled.”—Robert Eustace, Saturday Telegraph

“Fascinating. . . . Refreshing.”—Roger Lewis, Daily Mail
 
“Hook is not a curmudgeon. . . . he is a writer of wit and offers anecdotes generously. . . . There are overt and covert cynical reflections throughout. . . . Hook bares teeth at art-world euphemisms.”—Josh Spero, Financial Times
 
“Fascinating. . . . candid. . . . very relevant. . . . Philip Hook is extremely well qualified to deal with his chosen subject.”—Edward Lucie-Smith, Artlyst

“He writes better about the physical nature and impact of painting than anyone I have read for years.”—Grey Gowrie, Daily Telegraph
 
“A cultured, witty, clear-eyed, worldly teacher with a fully functioning sense of humor.”—William Boyd, Spectator

From the Publisher

2017-08-21
A narrative of the art dealers and gallerists who have shaped art history from behind the scenes.Many art histories have overlooked a critical narrative in its development to the present day: art dealers. At least, that is the argument of art historian Hook (Breakfast at Sotheby's: An A-Z of the Art World, 2013, etc.), who is a board member and senior director of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's. For the author, the development of Western art following the Renaissance coincides with the development of the commercial art market and the individual dealers and, later, gallerists whose tastes helped shape the market and favor certain artists and styles over others. Among the dealers Hook profiles are Englishman Arthur Pond, whose connoisseurship and reputation as an artist helped pioneer the role of dealer/scholar in the 18th century; William Buchanan, whose entrepreneurial attitude foresaw the value of art speculation in the early 19th century; the Wildenstein family, who established an art dynasty spanning the 20th century; and midcentury titan Leo Castelli, who cornered the abstract expressionist and pop art movements and represented a major power shift in the market. For some readers, Hook may come off as biased because of his position at Sotheby's—he openly admits a refusal to discuss big name contemporary dealers due to possible conflicts of interest—as well as his devotion of an entire chapter to former Sotheby's chairman Peter Wilson. Still, the role of auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's and their relationships with dealers are essential parts of the narrative, and the author's study of art dealers and the big personalities that have shifted tastes in the art market is valuable for anyone interested in this "story of many varieties of human folly and duplicity, interspersed with ingenuity, inspiration and occasional acts of heroism." A lively exploration of the history of art and the tastemakers and dealers whose influence in shaping it is often overlooked.

Kirkus Reviews