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first marriage (one of them had recently died) and his widow. The press regularly publishes new articles, and it seems that it smells like a major political and financial scandal, as they like in France - a question already raised in Parliament. But that's another story ...
Fully translated it, I certainly will not - a thick book. But I did sort of digest. There has been so far. Text in blue - my. The text in black - translation from the book of Daniel Vildenshtayna. In the house № 57 on the streets of La Boesen located apartments and gallery Vildenshtaynov. Nathan Vildenshtayn, osnovolozhnik dynasty, was born in 1851 in the Alsatian village Terkenrhaym (the Alsatian accent was famous). When in 1870 Germany annexed Alsace, he decided to stay in France and moved to Vitry-le-Francois, where he opened a trade fabrics. Art absolutely was not interested so long as one client did not ask him to sell the painting attributed to Van Dyck. Carried out an operation with a substantial profit, he suddenly realized, in essence, threw tissue and opened a shop rag. A year later he bought a painting by Boucher for two hundred francs, and resold for twenty thousand. This was followed by other fantastic discoveries, brilliant deal. All who knew him in one voice saying that he was the most gifted Marchand-century - his eyes was phenomenal: where others saw nothing but blackened varnish, he could see a masterpiece. [/COLOR] When my grandfather began selling paintings, these names are worthless. As if they simply did not exist. Except for the brothers Goncourt whole life of these artists no one was interested. We can say that he opened them, pulled the light of day. He is one ... My grandfather was very far from the salon painting, which was in vogue during the second half of the XIX century. From all the rest, however, too - impressionism, in his opinion, was terrible rubbish. Nathan honored only paintings by old masters. At the beginning of the next century, he and his partner Gimpel opened a gallery in New York. [/COLOR] No, in the U.S. liked mainly British art paintings depicting scenes of hunting, dogs and horses. Valued by Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Lawrence ... for wealthy Americans that British culture was like a page of their own history - as opposed to, say, Fragonard. Honestly, Fragonard came to mind an American client in the last turn. My grandfather was attacked on its American customers, who lived in Paris, the heavy artillery. In the end, the Americans gave up and started to buy Fragonard, etc. - Grandpa knew how to persuade people. With regard English painting, even my father believed him. Well, I? I do not sell English painting. I have never in my life has not sold a picture by the English artist. You may ask: and why? Yes because I am a fool! In England a lot of good artists, and English painting is charming. Incidentally, when a cousin of Felix with his appearance dummy defined in the New York gallery, the local staff nearly revolted. But gradually he became a great seller. Not a word more. Time does not matter. He was not afraid to buy at a very high price when he thought that the work is worth it. Among his clients featured the most famous names: Rothschild, Veil-Picard, David-Weill, Gulbenkian, Bestegi ... [/COLOR] Some pictures from the life[/COLOR] «Dieterle, Gerard and Dyubur Already in the 1920-ies. father and grandfather started taking me with him to the renowned art dealers ... Those were the characters! And all completely different! Each had its own style, their tricks. It was they who created the art market, they're all invented. Without them, now, nothing would. I knew those who managed to survive the crisis of 1929, I must say, it was not easy to survive ... On the Boulevard Malesherbes gallery located Dieterle, son of Marie Dieterle, artist and close friend of Corot. This Dieterle loved painting, his favorite artist was Corot. He was an expert on Corot and surprisingly well spoken about it. Play it could be hours. He could tell you all the big and little history of each painting by Corot. He could tell you about the pictures, signed Coro, but not written to them! .. His fellow artists, he did not deny anything. He knew that they lived in poverty. He also knew that his signature raised the price of paintings. So he signed them ... Corot was a wonderful person, very simple. Corot was simply the embodiment of kindness. Now I want to prepare a consolidated catalog of Corot - a joint project with the grandson Dieterle, and the choice of companion, as you know, not quite the case ... In twenty-five meters from the shop Dieterle was named Gerard Marchand, Raphael Gerard. This gentleman at any time of the year wore striped trousers, a black frock coat and high stiff collar. His appearance was the most amiable and benevolent. The fact that this Gerard was a real robber. Bandit of the highway. Not that the pictures which he sold were counterfeit. No, they were real. He copied them - and irrevocably ruined! For example, a dancer by Degas: Degas painted them with charming monkey face. But by the decision of Mr Gerard restorer carved these faces from the pastels and replaced them with such puppet-head! Yes, sir. I will not explain what these works were irretrievably ruined. Another feature of Mr. Gerard: he did not want to see in the pictures are no cows. The cows were in his presence of mortal danger! Look at the scenery painted cow! Immediately remove it to me! Cows can not sell it. Such work, we sometimes managed to save ... We were able to restore the cow. In my life I never had ever seen. M. Gerard was lucky that all artists - writers of his paintings have already died. Especially Degas. Can you imagine what would have happened if Degas saw the doll head on their work! The one and only doll's head. It would just kill this gentleman Gerard. He would have forced him to swallow his elegant high collar! Seligman Largest Marchand ... Magnificent mansion. We went together for a visit. Exchanged pleasantries. We talked about the weather. Never showed each other a single picture. Do not even shown frames. We had the same customers ... Petrides Grand Petrides ... This comic, this Petrides. It was the most professional liar of all Marchand. He lied as breathing - and his lungs were in good condition ... He lied on any subject! In a past life he was a tailor. Gradually, he formed a collection, and eventually learned to love painting. And then the war started. He took pictures from Fabiani other Marchand and sold them to the Germans. In those circumstances it was easy to make money. This went on for four years. Petrides amassed a vast fortune. After the Liberation, of course, the wind blew for him in another direction ... Many years Petrides settled in our neighborhood. When we met on the street, he felt the lapels of my jacket. Joseph Dyuvin I would say that Dyuvin stand above them all. Absolutely cynical Dyuvin, an Englishman of Dutch origin. Incidentally, he became Lord. To become a lord, have much to give, it's understandable, no? Well, Dyuvin given as needed - a lot of money to museums, a lot of pictures ... Indeed, Nathan taught him everything here, and this very house. In Dyuvina was one huge advantage over my grandfather and father: five months in the year he spent in New York. He had a mansion on 57 th Street and the most snobbish clientele America. He lived in London. He lived in Paris. This Joseph was omnipresent. And sell everything - furniture, paintings, tapestries, porcelain. He sold everything, with one exception - he never touched modern painting. This influence is my grandfather. In Dyuvina who all his life dreamed of his son, was only daughter, so I replaced him a son, he was to me something of a godfather. What a pity! .. And I explained to him that you will first need to acquire the walls in the proper quantities. That is, first you need to buy a house. And then I take matters into their own hands, Daniel, I am building him a house. And indeed, he took matters into their own hands. He had a whole army of the best architects and a genius - Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed a house for Baker, Vanderbilt, Uaydenerov. This Dyuvin was also a genius in his way. Well, he was a goose! .. My father and Dyuvin - watch their relationship was terribly curious. They worked together all their lives, bought a monstrous amount of things - often entire collections - chipped. And throughout their lives, they quarreled with each other. And how they managed to work together? And I'll tell you. I was sixteen. One day my father asked me to go to London. I went to London. There I stayed at Hotel Claridge. When I came to him, his voice was no longer such a plaintive: - What is it you come to London? - I decided to enter next year in the University of London and came to know some details ... - Ah, the university? Who did you tell? Tell me why you came, and Daniel? Do not want? Then I'll tell you: you came to buy Bush. Confess! Your father sent you to buy Bush! - Bushe? What is Bush? What sale? What are you talking about? I want to go to university, Joseph ... - Daniel - you are the same shit, like your father! You are not ashamed to behave with me? - Yes, I do not know any Bush ... Then he grabbed the phone and asked my father's room in Paris. - George, your son is sitting next to me and powder my brains. He says he joined the University of London. Stop joking! He came to buy Bush, I know! - No, Daniel will learn ... - Well you and shit! So you've decided to bypass me, so what? Come on, laying out, do not deny it! - Joseph, my son ... - Wretch! Oh wait, you'll see what these will cost you Bush! I swear to you, little you will not find! I'll die, and not give up! - Do what you want, I do not care! And I wish you will never find a buyer for them! Such scenes were repeated constantly. A horrible scandals, just horror. But in the end both calmed down ... so it was this time: - Can we settle? And, George? - Okay, come on. - So, buy chipped? - Buy chipped. Dyuvin and Berenson Joseph was unable to estimate the picture. For he had an army of various experts. For the examination of the Italian primitives, he was an American Berenson, the famous Leonard Berenson ... It was a frail man with the habits of an aristocrat, somewhat tired, somewhat prim ... Dyuvin signed an exclusive contract with him and paid him a monthly salary. Berenson supplied Dyuvinu appearing all works of the great Italian masters, Dyuvin bought them and then reselling the American collectors. Before offering some picture Dyuvinu, he showed it to us. Therefore, we chose the first. If the work does not suit us, we could refuse. This agreement, as well as the related correspondence were to remain confidential. Top secret. No one show! Even after the death Dyuvina Berenson insisted that no one knew about our relationship, and I understand him - he demanded 50%of the profits from all transactions initiated by them! /... / Every year, I spent three weeks in Tuscany in his villa at I Tatti. There I looked at pictures for hours of pictures, they were thousands ... He taught me to recognize the Italian primitives. We went together to the exhibition of Italian art ... It is now considered good taste to say that Berenson was not talent, and with particular zeal is claimed by those who never even saw. [/SPOILER] |
When other children collected toy soldiers, George began collecting medieval anlyuminyury. At eighteen he already knew that the history of art interested him most. His entire life was marked by erudition. It is published in the Gazette of Fine Arts, became its secretary, then bought and developed it. He was issued and union catalogs Manet, Chardin, Ingres, Lancret, Moreau, Fragonard, becoming the most competent and influential expert of his time ... [/COLOR]
It was Douglas Cooper. In the article there were a fair criticism and baseless accusations. Then his father suggested that Cooper to take part in the second edition, and he agreed. He died in 1984, after analyzing the entire painting Gauguin. But when we began to watch him work, it became clear that there is a problem. The fact that Cooper was a very quarrelsome and phenomenal quarrelsome. So, he could not admit that the picture belongs to one of his enemies, may be genuine. And the enemies he has had a lot, I swear. And on such grounds, he deleted from the catalog of work, the movement of which can be traced from the artist's studio to its current owner. We had to rehabilitate illegally repressed picture .... Activities Gallery severely affected by the crisis in 1929: [/COLOR] Three people have bought the Hermitage Museum a large number of masterpieces. Two of them are well known: the U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and Talleyrand oil Calouste Gulbenkian. Who was the third? Of course, my father ... It was he who arranged the deal and led all the negotiations in Leningrad. Actually my father was a homebody, but when it came to such a deal, he agreed to go to Leningrad on foot - in fact it was a deal of the century! Theoretically, such transactions are not possible: you can not buy paintings from the Louvre! The idea was born in Gorky: sell the painting and to purchase tractors. In Paris my father asked Ilya Ehrenburg, writer and future minister. He had lived long in France, and even made a small collection. He represented the Soviet side. My father went to Leningrad. He never told the details of this transaction, but I know that he bought paintings at a phenomenal sum. And some masterpieces. And its weight in gold. Actually, our company has never been stingy when it was an opportunity to purchase a masterpiece. He bought the Italian comedians Watteau, portyasayuschih Rembrandt, Rubens great for Mellon, he took the Alba Madonna, for the Gulbenkian - a masterpiece of Houdon - Venus. Ah, the Gulbenkian! Arriving in Deauville, Gulbenkian was going to look for me at Plage, where I built sand castles - I was five years old - to kiss me. He had very big feet. In general, he was incredibly, fantastically ugly and just as fantastically clever. He loved art and considered himself not a client of my father, and his partner. My father never did he not buy, on the contrary, it Gulbenkian bought my father bought a lot. But sometimes they bought chipped. If it appeared that promise good profits, without Gulbenkian not dispense ever. He wanted to know what we buy, from whom, for how much. He wanted to enlist a spy in the enemy camp. I just checked for you! As for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, it was a big banker. He decided to create the Washington National Gallery, funded it at 100%and left her his entire collection. A collection of his was wonderful! He bought all - at Dyuvina have Knedlera, we have ... It was he who instructed our New York gallery to buy him at the Hermitage all that interested him. He had all the lists. Actually, we have them, too, were. Hermitage picture, we knew by heart. Gulbenkian, of course, too. He mentioned to my father things that he wanted to get - he flatly refused to go to the USSR, he was sure there would kill him. : any Courtieux showed an old lady from the provincial town of Gauguin's work. After much persuasion, the lady finally agreed to entrust it to him for sale. The old lady began to worry, Courtieux nervous - after all, if she should tell her Gauguin to someone else, goodbye, commissions! - And called Vildenshtaynu: -I squatting Tahitian Gauguin, 100h81, the signature in the right corner ... - I wonder ... How much? - Pyatdesyat ... - No, let's over forty. - Okay. - Well, bring her Gauguin. This ability to assess a flash picture of George Vildenshtayn owed his love for the archives. Throughout his life, he replenished his library, which had a hundred thousand images, 300 thousand books, one hundred thousand directories - it allowed him immediately to determine the composition of some Austrian collections, or calculate the cost of zapasniikov gallery in Rio de Janeiro. One day, shortly before the Second World War, in some shabby hotel in the Drouot auction, he saw a portrait of a monk. He then remembered seen once engraved, very similar to this paper - this engraving was part of the catalog charts Watteau, compiled Julien. George Vildenshtayn instructed my staff to buy fabric. In the evening, when he returned to racing at Longchamp racecourse, the work was on his desktop. - And how much? - He asked. - Four hundred and twenty. - Damn it, 420 thousand! Expensive, though! - No, sir, 420 francs. Send for Julien: George was not mistaken, it was the work of Watteau - now she is in a museum in the United States. With his characteristic generosity, he published all found materials, which were poleznyvmi many of his colleagues. The organizers of it were André Breton and Marcel Duchamp. [/COLOR] Good thing my grandfather saw her, he would not survive such ... Although not really a fact. Most likely, he would have laughed heartily. Dali was the favorite of my father. You know, Dali was not mad, oh no! He was still a wily - regularly played his role on the public. The role of the madman. To support him, Dad bought his work. In a sense, he was its artistic director. That he sent Daly to Julien Levy, a famous New York Marchand contemporary art, and in 1941 he organized a Dali exhibition in New York. While Dali barely managed to make ends meet. Following an invitation from Whitney, renowned collectors and incredible snobs, Daly said at a reception in his pajamas and a goat on a leash, first cast a stone at Tiffany's display window. Here's what he thought to be seen. one four-meter), three by Titian, Poussin 12, 80 Fragonard, Watteau, seven ... As art of modernists, which passes from hand to hand more often, the gallery always has at least twenty Renoir, Pissarro fifteen, ten of Cezanne, Van Gogov, Gauguin, Seurat and Corot and Courbet 25. George Vildenshtayn became engaged and modern painting, but always follow their tastes and do not hesitate to get rid of jobs that did not please him: for example, said that before the war, he eliminated the 250 works by Picasso (Vildenshtayn-grandson denies this version). During the Second World War Vildenshtaynov family took refuge in the south of France. In June 1940 the Vichy government deprived them of their French nationality. A large part of their paintings had been confiscated. In January 1941, they were able to leave the United States. They appointed a temporary administrator, who created a company that has taken on lease Vildenshteynov gallery with all its contents. Daniel Vildenshtayn and his sons Alec and Guy filed for Feliciano to court for what he has slandered their father and grandfather. In 2000, the Court of Appeal found itself incompetent, but found that Feliciano had some reason to interpret this way the role of Georges Vildenshtayna during the war. [/COLOR] The rest did not matter. All or almost all. My father was olerzhim mystyu death and incredibly, incredibly superstitious. He knew all the signs, everything! .. Do not put shoes on the bed, someone will die. Do not place under addl Letnica. Do not wear green. Do not open an umbrella in the house. But all this - still nothing. We had something more interesting. For example, my father never to step on the black plate. Accordingly, when he returned home - and in the hall floor was paved with black and white plates - he walked only on the white board. The gallery plates were white and red, there he was still on that step. But the black plate could not come - it was a hundred percent guarantee that the house would be dead! [/SPOILER] |
Um ... no. Grandson.
[/B] After his father's death in 1963 the gallery began to manage Daniel. He drew the Japanese and Middle Eastern clientele, and in 1977 opened in Houston Vildenshtayn Art Center, where all art is for sale - from the Greek antiquities to contemporary American artists. In the 1980's. Vildenshtayny purchased half of Pace Gallery, which is now called the Pace Vildenshtayn. And then there have been a sad event: as a result of numerous grievances with the French bureaucracy, in particular, charges of tax evasion, etc., Daniel Vildenshtayn ceased operation in France and abolished the Paris gallery. Giving him the floor: [/COLOR] History is fantastic. My father was very fond of Bonnard, and by the way, this love was mutual. Papa was so fond of him, that he has organized three exhibitions - one in 1934 and two after the war. Incidentally, Pierre Bonnard gave my father a self-portrait, which he wrote, looking at myself in the mirror. I met him here in our house. He looked like an accountant: a thin, bespectacled, shy, with a quiet voice he used very rarely. He seldom showed his emotions, was closed. Unlike Picasso, Vlaminck, or even he was not impressed, was not character. Nevertheless, he has always been my favorite artist. I think Monet and Bonnard among the major artists of the twentieth century. At the time of their period of Nabi Bonnard worked shoulder to shoulder with Vuillard. Which one was better? Sometimes one, sometimes another. And then found Bonnard color. He found it as a time to find a color of Fra Angelico. And suddenly there came into another dimension, leaving everyone far behind ... His color immaterialen. This is the color that you see in a dream, an imaginary color, woven from hundreds of nuances. This color is similar to most Bonnard - there is nothing threatening, it consists of only one of tenderness. This idyllic fireworks, a wonderful symphony, full of human warmth. And it really written. Such a color no one other artist this time. Look at the Fauves - the work they have bright and colorful, that's for sure, but they used pure colors, putting one next to another. Look at the marriage. Yes, and Picasso - you know how I loved it and the artist, and man - did not have a sense of color. However, Bonnard, unlike Picasso, was not a graphic artist. His paintings have little artistic value. Figure he wanted to organize ideas. In Bonnard's all a matter of color. In short, I am madly in love Bonnard. He died in 1947 his wife died before him, in 1924, official version of Bonnard's wife was that her name was Marta de Méligny, and she comes from an old and famous Italian family. Within thirty years of living together Bonnard did not suspect that in fact her name was Maria Boursin, and she was the daughter of a carpenter from Bourges. She swore to him that she was an orphan, and that except for him it was no one in the whole wide world. They married rather late, having issued a marriage in community of property regime. While Bonnard was a poor painter, and Martha was not rich - she became his model, as soon as he took up painting. And in 1942, died in March, Bonnard, who lived at that time in Le Kanne, went to Cannes to his lawyer. It turned out that nothing like Marta de Méligny not left. And it was fraught with troubles. This meant that it would be powered by an administrative procedure that could have turned to Bonnard serious headache: you make tracing possible heirs of Martha - even if, in principle, none should have been - and during this investigation Bonnard workshop will be temporarily sealed. The fact is that while the artists had no moral rights, in particular the right to end of , a work that has been stored in their workshops. That is, he was not the owner of their works. All that was in his studio, should belong entirely to both spouses. Here I talk about this, and you probably think that all this nonsense, but because of this moral right Deren died of despair - the very day of his divorce, he is forbidden to enter his studio. After all, it was a mere formality - do not forget that have Martha had no relatives! .. After the death of the artist himself, logically, his property was to be divided among his heirs in a straight line. In the studio he was left with about seven hundred canvases and several thousand drawings and watercolors. Counted eight successors: the children of his brother and sisters and their children, including Charles Terrace, Bonnard's nephew, with whom he was very close. In general, it seemed quite simple - but keep in mind this is only the beginning of my story. It was developed in a period of not less than fifteen years, so I tell it in a shortened version, otherwise it will Balzac novel. So, according to the requirements of the law, after the death of Bonnard notary ordered genealogical research on the identity of his wife, Maria Boursin, at svomestitelstvu Marta de Melina. & GENEALOGY made a stunning discovery: it turned out that Martha had a sister! The sister was married to an Englishman by the name of Bowers. The couple had four daughters Bowers, however, soon to become three - one died. All three sisters were dancers Bowers. With access to the notarial documents, they found a forged letter Martha Bonnard composed after the death of his wife. Process. All legacy has been sealed, court administrator, responsible for business Bonnard, moved the contents of his studio in the safes of the bank Chase. Direct heirs Bonnard - Terrace and Bonnard - defending a prominent lawyer Maurice Garzon, who hired an army of additional lawyers. Sisters Bowers charged matter Moro Jaffery. Judgement handed down after years of trial, read: all inheritance goes to his sisters Bowers, as by law if one spouse has committed fraud, inheritance is fully transferred to heirs of the second spouse. Accordingly, a terrace and Bonnard remained empty-handed. At this point, in mid-1950. From the audience and I became one of the actors of this play. He gave me the million and I think it was very noble of him, because then it was a lot of money, today it is approximately $ 50 million. Then I went to Charles Terrace, moral heir Bonnard (recall that the terrace known me since my birth and that he was a close associate of my father, with whom they remained friends). You know, I offered a million dollars for a lost cause in advance! Terraces and Bonnard consulted among themselves and agreed to my proposal. Then it took to obtain the consent of a court administrator, I went to see him. His name Viel, his office was on the Rue Jacob. Such an amazing little man. He sat in the middle of piles of documents which rose almost to the ceiling. This dossier Reno. I kept it after the occupation. It's me! I completely dismembered Reno! From him there were only crumbs! Ashes! Emptiness! After me - a flood! Always! When I do any thing from her is nothing left! He immediately gave his consent. So I took matters into their own hands. Officially, the appellate court addressed the heirs of the artist - Terrace and Bonnard; I worked behind the scenes. I made contact with all eight lawyers - one for an heir - and hired an additional few stars board. Among them was even a future Minister of Justice in the government of General de Gaulle. This young minister was like a professor Nimbus, in court he had spoken in Latin. Yes, in Latin. Why? Had such a right. So I can not tell the content of his speech - I did not have subtitles. But the president of the court it very much, he kept laughing. Counsel British contenders, Moreau Jaffery, shook hall. Terrace and Bonnard, he put greedy executioners, torturers accidents crumbs. His defense was great. But at the same time and very risky. And I won the appeal, and now I'll explain why. We lawyers have decided to adhere to the next line of defense: Bonnarovskaya paper was not a forgery. Thus here! Bonnard did not falsified, and it is easy to prove: writing before a notary public that stupid note on behalf of his late wife, he dated her during the day, when it was composed, that is, nine months after the death of Martha. If he filled in a false date, then we could talk about the forgery. But here we are not dealing with fraud, and with Notary joke ! This document has no legal force. In Bonnard, and never meant to deceive anyone, he never even tried to imitate the signature of his wife - he just wanted to be able to continue to work quietly in his studio. In short, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the Court of First Instance. Accordingly, I was the owner of half of works, which were kept in the workshop. You probably think I was jumping for joy? No, not so, and you know why? Yes, because for me it was not finished, far from being finished. I was going to again go to court and assert the moral right of the artist at work, are still present in his studio. The writers had a moral right. The composer, too. In the case of divorce or death of a spouse unfinished manuscripts and scores were not included in the common property. Some artists were denied the right to complete their works. Consequently, it was necessary to create a jurisprudence precedent. In general, what kind of moral right? It is believed that the artist can continue to work on any picture in the Workshop, if it never exhibited and reprodutsiirovali. It can burn it if it still pretty - like Monet. It can pierce it with his foot - as Degas. He can do with it whatever he wants, this work belongs to him alone. That such argumentary we submitted to the court. And the court ruled in our favor. So I won the case. I got all the works created after the death of his wife Bonnard, except 25 reproduced paintings, which departed sisters Bowers. But I'll give you 28%of the total number of works. I will do this primarily because you - cousin four Bonnard and have the right to inheritance. We signed an agreement with them and become excellent friends. The latter has recently died at the age of 104 years. Of course, there could be no question that the terraces and Bonnard were left without pictures. I handed out pictures of all members of the family. First, an administrator appointed an expert to assess the work. Then, the list of works and their evaluation should be to make lots of equal value. Each lot was to be a symbolic picture, the same number of still lifes, landscapes, paintings nabistskogo period ... Believe me, it was hard work we have done it with my son, Alec. Of course, not all received the same amount of work. Most - about five hundred - has remained with me. /... / I remember, brought his father to see Chase bank safes. Pre-numbered lots were distributed in the premises of the bank. Among those present was a five-year relative of British nurses, she threw a lot. I suggested to the heirs who wish, to share their work. Everything went without a hitch without a hitch. That's the end of history. From this adventure I had today left one hundred and eighty works Bonnard. The most wonderful. Most excellent. How much is it now Bonnar? Landmark work - from 5 to 7 million dollars, others - between 500,000 and 2 million. But these amounts do not matter to me. Do you know why this work is still with me, why I left myself the most beautiful? Because I love them. Because it is the work of the artist, whom I love, whom I love more than anything else. And the only reason I went to this incredible risk. I would not have done what I did for Bonnard, for any other artist. I could buy myself workshops of other artists. He could have, but did not buy - I have never had such a desire. I could buy, for example, workshop Vlaminck. I knew him well. Never in my life I have not heard that Vlaminck talked about art, he was at it was, in general, do not care. Art for him was reduced to a simple principle: to write - to sell, to write - to sell. Prior to 1910, he was a great artist, then, until 1920 - a very good artist, later vanished, he wrote in flow systems. He systematically answered no. Once he was a man who showed him his early work. That I wrote this crap? kicked a picture, and ripped through it! The man silently took out a letter which he wrote Vlaminck at the time of sale. Vlaminck, he was so! We bought earlier work Vlaminck, until 1920, for the gallery of the Elysee, which my father opened in about 1935, when the market righted after the depression. She was very well located, opposite the Hotel Bristol. We sold it Derain, Vuillard, Signac, Rouault. Director, there was Jean Mete, one of the smartest and funniest people in Paris. Big joker. Here it is, that's an auctioneer with a hammer! He rasprodast, lots, lots in a dozen! /.../ Industrialist Otto Krebs instructed us to sell his entire collection, it's been a wonderful work of the Impressionists. The money was supposed to convey to the fight against cancer. But the collection was to be sold only after the death of the Krebs, and he died in 1941 In 1945, all the paintings from the collection of the Krebs disappeared. Second collector named Otto Gerstenberg. He, too, was a magnificent collection of Impressionist masterpieces. Gerstenberg were our close friends, they did not hide their anti-Nazi views. After the death of Gerstenberg in 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, his daughter Margarethe Scharf sold us 50%of the best items from the collection of his father, including the absolutely stunning Degas Place de la Concorde. Transaction took our American company, Vildenshtayn Inc. We bought these paintings to resell them as it wished Mrs. Scharf. Pictures were stored in Berlin at a special warehouse near the place where later was built Hitler's bunker. It only remained to direct the picture forwarded to us in the U.S.. But this time the war began. In 1946 I went to Berlin to see what is left of the warehouse. A handful of ashes - a warehouse destroyed by fire. All our work had been declared lost. At the end of the war, Soviet and exported from Germany, all they could - still it was far less than what was stolen or destroyed on their territory - the Nazis were the real experts on the destruction of libraries, churches, looted museums ... It was not a well-organized theft , as in France, and wild prey. /... / /... / [/SPOILER] |
Thank you, very interesting to read :)
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I translated the entire book. Looking at the pieces that I put here, I realized that uchilyvat will be hard, and decided to just put the whole text.
Nathan Vildenshtayn In response to my questions about our roots my grandfather Nathan always answered: "Daniel, are important only two things - to love France, and walk to the Louvre." My grandfather was everything to me, and my head did not come to question his version. [SPOILER] He was born November 8, 1851 in Fegerskhayme, in Alsace. He always told my grandmother that was the only one of the children in the family that his father, a Sephardic rabbi, died before his birth. Finding old documents of civil status, I felt that it was wrong, began to dig further, and I must say that I still have not moved away from what I've dug up ... Sit back! .. Imagine, my grandfather had three brothers and three sisters. Their father died in 1879 and he was not a rabbi. Besides Vildenshtayny were Ashkenazi. A decent surprise, right? And it's not all. My grandfather had concealed from us his personal tragedy: in 1870, when he moved from Alsace, his father cursed him ... Such a conglomeration of lies unbanal. My grandmother and died without ever knowing about it ... For me it was not just a surprise, it was an earthquake - it turns out, my grandfather, whom I adored, was a liar. He fooled us all - my father. Me. All. Why did he redrew his past? Why did he lie? To restore the picture, it was necessary to examine the facts. His family lived in Fegerskhayme from 1709 - until then the archives have not survived. Father of my grandfather's name was Lazar. He traded postal horses and cattle, as well as all his ancestors since 1709. When my grandfather was 14 years old, he went on this thing. For trade in livestock need to know all the details of credit facilities, it was not an easy profession. It is no coincidence, Albert Kahn, who became the largest banker, was a native of Alsace, and last traded cattle. Buying and selling horses was much easier. Roughly speaking, this was a gangster craft: nag hunted for three days resulted in the presentation and then re-sold, so you bought is actually a dead horse ... of course, recognize the great horse-trader, and good horses. By the way, Nathan was able to do it. At auction in Deauville, seeing that my father hesitated, he said: "Do what you want. But I would buy this now. " And always pointed to the great mare, which gave almost nothing. While it seemed strange to me. Now I understand better what it was. And I know where the family appeared "horseness virus" ... In 1808 by decree of Napoleon, a Nathan ben Lazar received the right to choose a name. It seems that he was inspired by an ancient castle in the upper reaches of the Rhine - Castle Vildenshtayn. What else can I say? This is almost everything. In the end, I was not at the same time ... about 1808 we were the only names - Jacques ben Nathan and Nathan Ben Jacques ... My grandfather loved the Abbe Gregoire. He created him, so to speak, posthumous idols. It is this abbot offered to give the Jews the opportunity to have a permanent family to a completely uneducated ... Nathan French Revolution has been the subject of passion: "We were nothing, - he chanted - and the French Revolution in 1789 has made of us real people." Participate in the election was for him a sacred duty, he was not joking with this. We can say that it was almost the only subject on which he never joked. He admired Clemenceau. And he hated the Germans. In 1870 the family Vildenshtaynov there was a terrible tragedy. The Prussians occupied Alsace. My grandfather left Federskhayma, leaving the family. Perhaps it was not easy. Surely it was not without bloodshed ... In Alsace there was an old tradition that touches everyone - Catholics, Protestants, Jews. It can be stated as follows: the one who left Alsace and his family never came back. His name was crossed out from the annals, it no longer existed. His very name was forgotten. If he suddenly appeared, he was denied a piece of bread. He was cursed for life. In those days, if people wanted to get out of Alsace, they left all the family. My grandfather left alone. An aggravating circumstance: he was the eldest of seven children, therefore, he knew what awaited him, but still left. He refused to become a German, there lived a commitment to remain French. This is the key to understanding the fate of Nathan and, accordingly, our destiny. When I was young, he could not, of course, imagine what a nightmare he had experienced, but nevertheless saw the departure from Alsace was given to him is not easy. He carried a some secret shame, a severe wound. And I doubt that he was in Alsace, even after the Treaty of Versailles, even after 1919 do not think so. He often told me: "You know, Daniel, the Boches are still hosted with us." Terrible sentence ... His six brothers and sisters were ... Germans must know that when his father died, my grandfather bought a small house in Fegerskhayme - to be able to say: I have a family house there. But it was not a house of my ancestors. Another puzzle: the tomb of Lazarus flirtatious in a Jewish cemetery Fegersayma. I'm pretty sure that he ordered her Nathan. But on the tomb is not mentioned nor his mother, Babette, nor his brothers and sisters - as if all onikuda something left. They are no longer any trace. What happened to them? What happened? Now do not know ... I, too, there was not. In 1870, Nathan tried to go to Paris, but Paris was not available. The city was besieged. Then he went to Vitry-le-Francois. Why there? Not because the place was called Vitry, and because it was Francois Vitry - French. Yes, he, he loved France so much. Things have gone even further, it is very strange: Nathan opened a branch in New York in 1898, and he died in 1934, has never visited this same America. He was more than a couch potato. Of course, he traveled to the Netherlands - a Rembrandt, Rubens behind, and even Dutch painting had to buy it ... But my grandfather was very reluctant to leave their country, their French Republic. He sacrificed his family to remain French. In 1871, Nathan served in the 48th regiment of infantry in Chalons-on-Marne. He then went to work for a tailor in Vitry-le-Francois. Where else could he go? A tailor's apprentice ... In the Jewish hierarchy stood just below the bum. Surely he had a difficult life. He sold the cloth - the man who sells American millionaire John D. Rockefeller, Portrait of Antoine Laurent Lavoisier and his wife of David ... He's always been a fantastic seller - one of the family. Neither my father nor myself, nor my children did not have that talent. And he was. It was in his blood. He intuitively recognize the tastes, desires and passions with great accuracy. Once one of his clients in Vitry asked him if he could sell a few paintings on which she wanted to get rid of. Paintings? Why not? Willingly. There was only one embarrassing fact: he knew nothing about the pictures. Quite a damn thing, he was a complete zero. As the cultural baggage from my grandfather was only the French language, learned in school - he went to school until the age of fourteen - and the Alsatian dialect, which he had no one to talk. But he did not give. He said yes and went to Paris. In Paris, he got to the Louvre, he did not go there for ten days. Within ten days he looked. Observed. I tried to understand. Looked again and again. Raised his eyes. Daniel, two things are important - like France and walk to the Louvre. You should know up to the last breath, my grandfather sold the masterpieces of the largest museums in the world. In all - except for the Louvre. He could not. Sell sheet in the Louvre - he could not even imagine this. He loved the Louvre and the people who worked at the Louvre. And his relationship with the Louvre were charmed visitor relations - of-zi these ten days ... I remember how he talked about the decade that changed his life. He spoke with fervor characteristic of people who possessed faith. As an atheist, who suddenly had a vision, and who became a monk. He told me: "I could not even imagine that there is." And he believed only that. He sold the picture of his client. Earned 1,000 francs. But it is not squandered them. No, he immediately invested in their canvases. He went round all the houses in Vitry, Bush bought a bed and Quentin de Latour, and immediately resold them to buy more fabric. That's how our story began. Events began to develop at a faster rate after meeting his grandfather to Laura Levy, my future grandmother. Presumably, this poor man, without a stake and the court, almost vagabond, the only good that has been an incredible accent, fell into raptures by a brilliant and welcoming family Levi ... Levi was born in Carcassonne Sephardim. Grandmother's sister was the mother of Darius Milhaud. Her brother married the daughter of a Provencal poet Valabrega, who more than once wrote Cézanne. Music. Poetry. Painting. These were educated people. They lived in Paris on the Boulevard Mazhanta - there February 11, 1856, my grandmother was born. I remember she told me about his childhood, it was so wonderful! .. Every day my father took her to watch as the balloon flies away, carrying mail - this balloon after landing in Paris, where necessary. He delivered the "Gazeta missing." "On the first page - told my grandmother - were published in the news, and the second page was left blank for people to write on her own." It showed me his father, indignant that "these Parisians eats animals from the zoo!". Samson Levi choked with indignation: "Shockingly, these people are willing to eat their dogs! Cannibals! ". This man thought a lot about the misery of civilization, published revolutionary tracts. He was from people who believe in the idea of freedom. He believed that freedom - not a bad thing. I remember in the 1930s. - She died on February 6, 1937 - my grandmother told me: "Your great-grandfather was a communist!". And I answered her: "Nonsense ... Never in my life. Your father was a commune, it is quite another matter. Who invented communism? Marx. Engels. Rosa Luxemburg. All the Ashkenazim, Ashkenazi Jews alone. Of course, you realize that he would never trust them. " When you think about the continuation of the communist feuilleton known to know whether to laugh or cry ... After the fall of the Commune Levy left Paris and settled in Vitry-le-Francois, where he opened a print shop. There's my grandmother got her Abitur - while this certificate meant something, you can even say that it means a lot. She wrote. I read everything that came under her arm. This is my father instilled a love of books. I am sure that she opened her eyes grandfather taught him to see beauty. My grandmother loved art all my life - until her last night. Why did he lie to her? Perhaps there is some explanation ... I guess. During their meeting there was a huge gap between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. From the perspective of Ashkenazi Sephardic were disgusting creatures prischedshimi from Spain, calling to Asia or Africa! To call a spade a spade, it was a dirt road ... For Sephardim Ashkenazi and were ignorant slut! .. At the time of the Sephardi girls not to marry Ashkenazim. No, never. Well, and vice versa. It was impossible to even imagine that her daughter will marry Ashkenazi Sephardic. Here in this context that my grandfather and grandmother uttered untruths: that his father was Ashkenazi rabbi, and in addition to all the deceased. The risk that someone-show from this German Alsace and expose him, was small - in fact they buried him in the shower. In a sense, Nathan repaid cursed him to his father in the same coin: he sent ahead of him in heavenly peace ... But how can you sleep Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews to wake up? Grand ... I remember he even had molilnye book - Sephardic. Surely he bought them specially for the occasion ... and I hear him: "I do not eat this stuff in the armor! And I'm not kidding! When I was serving lobster, I do not eat anything except claw! ". Yes, in terms of religion, my grandfather was a great joker. Such an atheist in the Alsatian style. But he never opened his grandmother, even late in life - I must confess that, I can not understand ... It's madness. How could he not admit to it? By the way, now, at eighty-two years, I suddenly realize that I probably have cousins somewhere - and that's after for his entire life, I have argued, foaming at the mouth that most of the Vildenshtaynov, claimed the relationship with us, or lied, or eccentric ... Nathan and Laura were married in the house of Levi in Paris March 31, 1881 April 4 in the synagogue of Nazareth was a religious marriage. Grandmother had a small dowry, which is very handy: it allowed them to settle in the Retiro, where they took a small and modest room. They began modestly. Syndrome hats Grandpa would have done without the grandma of success? It's not a fact. I would say that it accounts for 50%. Maybe even a little bit more. Yes, it can be. My grandmother was easy to lift. In the eyes of this woman, who loved the art of equally strong, and racetracks, shining mind. She taught me everything. I was born in 1917: in four years, she took me with him everywhere - on the racetrack Auteuil, Longchamp, Saint-Cloud. And I've played. I had to go up on tiptoe to the window to throw a coin into cash, and my grandmother was standing behind me and put on all the horses, so I won in all races ... I accompanied her on the shows and high fashion collections. "You see, Daniel is very funny." Indeed, it was very funny. So many pretty girls. For four years, I loved it ... My grandfather wanted my grandmother was elegant. He liked it when she was dressed in the latest fashion. We went to the sisters Callot. This was the era of feathers. The feathers in their hats. Boa. My grandfather called her Mrs. birds. "Well, Mrs. Feathered!". And I call her Ama, it meant "My Mom". I baptized his grandfather Toto, and he liked it. Physically, he looked like Toto, apparently he was ugly, ugly but interesting. It is very thin. Very small. With a mustache - a tribute to the era. Hair beaver. And light blue eyes ... He was a cheerful, zhovialny, always an optimist. Among her he was willing to tell stories. Laughed at by his own unfunny jokes and puns depressing. Often, he suddenly burst into laughter for no reason. Oh, he loved to have fun ... I know it's not what you expect from a man who discovered Fragonard and Watteau, but it is. Ama and Toto. It was an impressive pair. I remember in the 1920s. They took me to the movies, the movie was dumb. The protagonist was wearing a strange hat, all of them laughed, but by the end of the movie are wearing a hat the entire city. When we left the theater, his grandfather said, "You know, Daniel, our profession - is to find a hat and put it before all others." He found his hat, it was the French art of the XVIII century. Man of the XVIII century Fragonard, Watteau, Boucher, Pater, Greuze, Lancret, Nattier, Chardin, Houdon. When my grandfather began to sell paintings, these names are worthless. As if they simply did not exist. These painters and sculptors, all this century was not interested in anyone but the brothers Goncourt. We can say that my grandfather opened them, pulled out into the daylight. He is a ... In the last quarter of XIX century in the official art of the Barbizon school prevailed. Bouguereau, Cabanel, Carolus-Duran. How much trash. But sometimes the real artists. In any case, these were the tastes of the time. Great Bouguereau - not such a bad artist - sold for 10 million dollars and was taken to decorate the walls of the bar in Chicago. What can I say about Cabanel? Yes, it's better not to say anything. The best of them was Carolus-Duran, the most capable. He could become a great artist. His early still lifes great, even better than Manet. But he wanted to become a member of fashionable artists ... My grandfather was very far from the salon painting, which was in vogue during the second half of XIX century. From all the rest, however, too - impressionism, in his opinion, was terrible rubbish, everything you want, but not painting. The Impressionists were oppressed grandfather. He began to have depression. When my father, still very young, began to revolve around these artists, his grandfather sighed heavily, I know. Surely it is hoped that with age, it is my father's will. Nathan honored only paintings of old masters. Everything else does not exist. He told me: "Remember, Daniel, you need only to work with dead artists. Living Artists - absolutely impossible people! ". He understood. Only one of the contemporary artists received his approval: "Yes, this can work. Come on! ". It was Van Gogh. So there is no rule ... We had heard that he was talking about Picasso, "Picasso - clever and adorable. But someone should tell him to stop spoiling canvas! ". Each morning, Grandpa went to the auction. Then he went to the junk - while they all came from gothic delight, so he quietly bought its eighteenth century. He was a favorite theorem: "He who walks in the Drouot every day, always able to provide a living for themselves and, and to buy new things. And if I do not, so what? So, I'm a fool. " At Versailles, it was no longer king, but the staunch Republican and penniless discovered the paintings of the Old Regime, with its gold, wigs, women in magnificent costumes, the atmosphere of the quadrille, minuet, balls, that careless air of the monarchy. He loved her - and only her. No. Yes. |
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Well, the Hermitage , of course ... more details ... Thank you! |
Foreign Clients
At the beginning of the century were big customers, very different. To begin with - the foreigners living in France. Argentines Bembergi. They supplied the meat across Europe. Colossal state. Enormous shopping. There were several brothers. Two of them bought the XVIII century until the 1920s., And then switched to the XIX century ... Another Argentine Client: Martinez de Hoz. He was engaged in raising livestock, wool, horses. His wife, a native of Brazil, has long been considered the most beautiful woman of France and Navarre.
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Dear Liana!
Thank you very much for your work. God Bless You for years to come! And then you can still delight us quite amazing things. |
Thank you, Liana ! A wonderful translation!
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P.S. Happy Holidays! |
Famous Marshal
Dieterle, Gerard and Dyubur Already in the 1920s. father and grandfather started taking me with him to the famous, heroic Marchand ... Those were the characters! And all completely different! Each had his own rhetoric, its own style. It was they who created the art market, it is they came up with. Without them, nothing now would not exist. I am well aware of those who managed to survive the crisis of 1929, I must say it was not easy to survive ...
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Liana, thank you very much <! - ~ 1 ~ -> a name, as it were inconsistent ("Merchants of Art") - this is not a bug?
So it should read? |
Dear Liana!
Thank you! Read the text of your great pleasure! |
pre-war times
A trip to Leningrad At the end of 1920. Three people have bought in the Hermitage Museum a large number of masterpieces. Two of them are well known: U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and the Talleyrand of oil Calouste Gulbenkian. Who was third? Of course, my father ... It was he who arranged the deal and conducted all the negotiations in Leningrad. Actually my father was a homebody, but when it came to such a deal, he agreed to go to Leningrad on foot - in fact it was the deal of the century! Theoretically, such transactions are not possible: you can not buy a painting from the Louvre! The idea was born in Gorky's paintings sell and buy tractors! In Paris, my father asked his friend Ilya Ehrenburg, writer and future minister.
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War
Throughout the war I lived with a picture in your pocket. She went with me to New York. It was a picture of the size of a cigar box: a tiny work of Seurat, which depicts a public toilet. When I was five years old, my father took me with him to Lucy Kustyure, an old friend, Sulfur, which itself was a pointillist painter. Grand Zhatt, located in Chicago, now a museum, belonged to her. We just went to her to look at this amazing Grand Zhatt. Painting occupied an entire room, floor to ceiling! My father could buy it. He did not do this, but sorry. Lucy Kustyure asked me: "What like a baby?". I liked the toilet. This was my first purchase.
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Against the background of gray and boring events with "investments" Your text is a miracle . The deepest gratitude! |
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