Daniel Wildenstein - Family Art Business

Family Art Business

Wildenstein's grandfather, Nathan Wildenstein, had established an art dealership on the Rue La Boétie in Paris after fleeing his native Alsace to escape the Prussian incursion of 1870. He first specialised in 18th-century French painting and sculpture, later expanding to Italian, Dutch, Flemish and Spanish art. Although he had been working in a tailor's shop when he began to trade in art he proved extremely successful, selling to European collectors such as Baron Edmond de Rothschild and later to Americans such as J Pierpont Morgan, Henry Clay Frick, and to the Kress, Rockefeller and Mellon families. He opened a New York gallery in 1903 and one in London in 1925.

The Wildensteins gained a reputation as shrewd businessmen, stockpiling works to maximise their profits when released onto the market. Nathan built a huge inventory of European Old Master paintings, sculpture, drawings, furniture and decorative objects, to which Daniel's father, Georges, added Impressionist and Postimpressionist works. In 1978 Wildenstein & Co's New York storeroom included 20 Renoirs, 25 Courbets, 10 Van Goghs, 10 Cezannes, 10 Gauguins, 2 Boticellis, 8 Rembrandts, 8 Rubens, 9 El Grecos and 5 Tintorettos among a total inventory of 10,000 paintings. The secrecy attached to these holdings led to a great deal of interest and speculation in the art world.