Milanese antique dealers and the international market

Abstract

This article provides two concrete examples of the opening of the Milanese art market to the international stage at the time of Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli. The main focus is on the career of Giuseppe Baslini (1817–1887), the most important art dealer in nineteenth-century Milan. A true self-made man, Baslini entertained close relations with the most eminent Milanese collectors of the time, including Poldi Pezzoli and the Bagatti Valsecchi brothers; his success was secured by the international market on three major axes – London, Paris and Berlin. The second example concerns the family company of the Grandi art dealers, during the same years. In 1877 Baslini’s brothers-in-law Carlo (1842–1914) and Antonio (1857–1923) Grandi inherited the company of their father, Antonio (1810–1877), which originally specialized in Old Master drawings and prints, but extended its interests to paintings and objets d’art soon after Baslini’s death. The Grandi correspondence, preserved by the heirs and recently donated to the Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano, has provided the opportunity to reconstruct their business, which had an international dimension from its inception.