#48-The Art Dealer Who Saved Monet
"The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration." - Claude Monet
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Here’s a few interesting things I learned this week while searching for the world’s greatest collectibles.
I read every letter Claude Monet wrote to his art dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel.
I was amazed to discover that without this incredibly talented salesman, determined visionary, cold-blooded risk-taker, and trusted friend, there might not be a Claude Monet as we know it.
How Paul Durand-Ruel saved Claude Monet and the Impressionism painters of Europe in the 1880s.
"Without Durand, we would have died of starvation, all of us the impressionists. We owe him everything,’
‘He persisted, persevered, he risked bankruptcy twenty times over to support us. The critics dragged us through the mud; but for him it was even worse! They used to write: these people are mad, but there is someone madder than them, the dealer who buys their work!" - Claude Monet
Or, here’s the Apple Podcast link -
Hope you enjoy it!
George Ruth went from nobody to the top of the world.
How did this youngster go from nothing to - The Babe?
From nothing - to one of the biggest sports legends of all time, and became maybe the most well-known athlete in the world - still to this day.
Featuring the book, 'The Babe Ruth Story,' written by Babe Ruth, and published in 1948.
I had a blast making this episode about Babe Ruth! Check it out here -
"Some scruffy kid who came from the humblest of beginnings, hung out as a six-year-old behind his father's bar; a big, badly flawed, swashbuckling palooka, who strides with great spirit — not just talent, but with a spirit of possibility and enjoyment of life across the American stage." - Bob Costas, sports commentator and lifelong baseball fan
Or, here’s the Apple Podcast link -
Hope you enjoy it!
Three Thoughts -
A few more things I stumbled on this week while exploring the world’s greatest collectibles -
#1 - The 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar -
10 years before President Thomas Jefferson orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon for $15 million, he argued America should create it's own money to unify the fast-growing nation and impress trade partners.
At that time, there was only foreign and individual state coins in circulation, but Jefferson wanted one united currency.
He said, "Coinage is peculiarly an attribute of sovereignty, to transfer its exercise into another country, is to submit it to another sovereign."
President George Washington urged Congress to create the U.S. Mint in 1792, and the first Flowing Hair silver dollar coins were struck by October of 1794.
2,000 Flowing Hair silver dollars were created, but due to poor quality, only 1,758 of those coins were approved for circulation.
Of the 1,758 coins approved, just 130 still exist today.
The finest example, and the very first silver dollar coin ever struck by the United States, sold for $10 million at a 2013 auction.
Coin experts label the 1794 Flowing Hair silver dollar a "National Treasure," and one of the most important coins of all time.
#2 - The Long Tail -
Someone described it to me like this -
'As important as it is to slice through the air efficiently, it's equally important to leave the air undisturbed after you pass through it.'
Long tail car designs are much more than beautiful curves for eye appeal. They have a significant effect on aerodynamics - increased fuel efficiency and improved drag coefficient, just to name a few.
After two years of planning, and working closely with two existing customers, Pagani began production on the "Codalunga." Italian for "long tail."
Drawing inspiration from the long tail cars that raced at Le Mans in the 1960s, Pagani's goal was to simplify, and take away rather than add.
But also make the car longer and smoother than the Huayra Coupe, "as if it had been caressed and molded by the wind."
"Simplifying is not at all straightforward, and this vehicle is, above all, the result of a complex pursuit of simple ideas." - Horacio Pagani
Five were built in 2022, starting at about $7.5 million.
Current value, $15 million each?
Learn more about Horacio Pagani and his amazing story of creating the very first hypercar, the Zonda C-12 -
#3 -The Top Gun Watch -
Tom Cruise wore the very first Porsche-designed watch in the 1986 film Top Gun.
It's the Porsche 'Orfina Chronograph,' and 34 years later, that very same watch was again worn by Cruise in the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
And it wasn’t just the same model, it was the exact same watch.
Once Jerry Bruckheimer and Cruise agreed to make the sequel, the next words out of Tom’s mouth were, “I need the watch.”
So they tracked it down from a private collection, shot the movie with the OG Porsche Top Gun watch, then returned it to the rightful owner.
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I need your help - I’m looking for very old and obscure books on Renaissance artists. I’d love to hear any recommendations you may have, please send me your ideas!
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Thanks for reading, and have a great week!