The Collectors: David and Peggy Rockefeller

David Rockefeller (1915–2017) — chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank and grandson of the oil magnate John D. Rockefeller — had grown up surrounded by fine objects but no fixed conviction about what made a picture matter. "I was brought up surrounded by beautiful things from many parts of the world and many centuries," he said. "I look upon my own collecting as having been an extension of that in many respects. My late wife Peggy and I really bought things together. We both felt, wisely, that if we should live with things we should both like them."

Grace Harlow Certified in Post-War, Contemporary and Emerging Art

Grace Harlow Certified in Post-War, Contemporary and Emerging Art

Joan Mitchell, Blueberry (1969). Oil on canvas. Private Collection. © Estate of Joan Mitchell.

The Dealer: Duveen

Joseph Duveen’s approach to art dealing was famously simple: “Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money.” Beginning in the late 1800s, Duveen bought thousands of artworks from declining European aristocrats and sold them to wealthy industrialists in the United States. Today, many of these pieces form the bedrock of American museum collections, while his methods – by turns ingenious, theatrical, and frankly unscrupulous – still echo through the art market a century on.

Tobias Czudej admitted as a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

We are pleased to share that our partner Tobias Czudej has been admitted as a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) through the Senior Professional Assessment.

RICS is one of the oldest chartered bodies in the valuation profession, granted its Royal Charter in 1881 with a mandate to act in the public interest. The designation reflects international standards of practice and complements Tobias’s existing credentials with the Appraisers Association of America, where he serves on the Board of Directors.

The MRICS designation strengthens Czudej McDonough’s capacity to serve European clients and to advise on cross-border estate and valuation matters.

RICS

The Collectors: Eugene and Barbara Schwartz

According to Eugene Schwartz, “Collecting is the only socially commendable form of greed.” The advertising copywriter known as “Gene,” and his wife, Barbara, an artistically-inclined interior designer, were at the forefront of a small but mighty group of New York collectors in the late-20th century.

Tobias Czudej on Eugène Atget in the Los Angeles Review of Books

Partner Tobias Czudej has published an essay on Eugène Atget in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Eugène Atget, “Balcon, 5 rue Grenier-Saint-Lazare, Paris” (1908-09)