#339 Joseph Duveen: Robber Baron Art Dealer

What I learned from reading The Days of Duveen by S.N. Behrman.  ---- Get access to the World’s Most Valuable Notebook for Founders by investing in a subscription to Founders Notes ---- Founders merch available at the Founders shop ---- Patrick and I are looking for partners. If you are building B2B products get in touch here.  ---- (0:01) Duveen noticed that Europe had plenty of art and America had plenty of money, and his entire astonishing career was the product of that simple observation. (2:30) The great American millionaires of the Duveen Era were slow-speaking and slow-thinking, cautious, secretive, and maddeningly deliberate. (3:30) How Larry Gagosian Reshaped The Art World by Patrick Radden Keefe. (Founders #325) (4:30) Invest Like The Best #342 Will England: A Primer on Multi-Strategy Hedge Funds (6:00) There is an old two-part rule that often works wonders in business, science, and elsewhere:  1. Take a simple, basic idea and  2. Take it very seriously. — the NEW Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charlie Munger. (Founders #329) (10:00) The art dealer Joseph Duveen insisted on making the paintings he sold as scarce and rare as possible. To keep their prices elevated and their status high, he bought up whole collections and stored them in his basement. The paintings that he sold became more than just paintings—they were fetish objects, their value increased by their rarity.  — The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.  (14:00) Duveen had enormous respect for the prices he set on the objects he bought and sold. Often his clients tried, in various ways, to maneuver him into a position where he might relax his high standards, but he nearly always managed to keep them. (16:00) Wildcatters: A Story of Texans, Oil, and Money by Sally Helgesen. (Founders #338) (18:00) You don’t need many customers if the few customers you do have are the riches people in the world. (22:00) His enthusiasm was irrepressible. (26:00) Duveen felt that his educational mission