In this article we want to share a little about the life and exploits of some art merchants that could be considered one of the most important in history.

Ambroise Vollard (1868 – 1939)

In his youth he left his home island to study in Paris, where he soaked and completely fell in love with art, leading him to open his own gallery.

He was a friend and merchant of great already established artists such as Cezanne, Renoir, Picasso, Matisse and Gauguin. He was also a patron of some such as Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard.

The Vollard death was an accident, although in a certain way it is considered that it was as dramatic as if it were the end of an artist. The merchant died in what is said to be a car accident, but even if it was part of the cause, the reality is that a bronze sculpture that he was transporting at that time fell directly to the back of his neck, so he lost his life instantly, causing the accident.

He had a large collection of art, it is known that only in paintings he had more than 560, this because during the Second World War a ship with his works left Portugal for the United States in order to protect the works from being looted by the German army or axis forces. These were confiscated and kept in Canada, in the end Vollard's family was able to recover them.

Joseph Duveen (1869 – 1939)

He was known for having a great vision for business. He knew the importance of art and its role within the ideology of prestige, so he was able to make the most of its sales.

I also knew who to sell with. Considering how old Europe was beginning to look, with nobles and important families losing power every day, he understood that wealth was in the new world, with the new rich of young America. With that in mind, he took advantage of the fact that the nobles had excellent collections and the need to sell them, so that rich Americans in search of prestige through art, paid exorbitant prices for the works. And he found it excellent, since he not only had a great instinct for sales, he also had a great eye for art, he was even able to identify counterfeit works with the naked eye.

Leo Castelli (1907 – 1999)

One of the most important and successful art merchants of the twentieth century, he was even one of the best agents that led to the success of Pop Art.

His life possibly a series of "he was in the right place at the right time." In the 1930s, Paris was at the best time to make friends in the wonderful circle of artists of the Paris school. To later return to New York and be successful in the 50s, getting to work with artists such as Warhol and Leichtenstein. Both in Paris and in New York he built galleries that helped him have millionaire deals and incredible relationships, which led him to go into history.

Daniel Henry Kahnweiler (1884 – 1979)

One of the great benefactors of Cubism, to the extent that it is believed that without the work of Vollard and Kahnweiler, Picasso perhaps would not have had the recognition and importance he obtained in life.

However, Kahnweiler's work was not limited to Picasso, since he worked with Paul Klee, Braque and Juan Gris. He also wrote and worked as an editor of books that exposed the work of the Cubists. He even made the first Cubist exhibition in history. Sadly, his collection was not saved from the Nazi looting and was lost in 1940.

Paul Durand-Ruel (1831 – 1922)

Monet had the peculiarity of throwing his paintings into the river or destroying them when something did not seem to him and without Durand-Ruel's interventions, he would have eliminated many more.

Just as Kahnweiler was a benefactor for Cubism, Durand-Ruel was a great friend, patron and merchant for the Impressionists, becoming one of the pillars that forged the group's success. He started buying paintings by Monet, later he added Pisarro, Renoir and the rest of the group, including Manet, although he was practically not an impressionist.

His reputation suffered great ups and downs for being a supporter of a group as controversial as the Impressionists, however, the intelligence that characterizes the great merchants did not lack and not only managed to recover, it also took out of prejudice the artists he supported and led them to success.

Sources: Recovered from The Debate.