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{{short description|American art historian and art dealer}}

factoids

Robert B. Simon (born 27 November 1952, New York) is an American art historian and art dealer most known for rediscovering Leonardo da Vinci's picture, Salvator Mundi.WEB, 2021-04-02, The Rich Pageantry of the Old Masters Is on Full View at Robert Simon Fine Art,weblink 2022-02-22, 1stDibs Introspective, en,

Education

Simon received his B.A., M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees, all from Columbia University,WEB, 2021-09-13, Bookshelf,weblink 2022-02-22, Columbia College Today, en, where his doctoral thesis focused on Bronzino’s portraits of Cosimo I de’ Medici.WEB, Robert B. Simon '73CC, '75M.A., '76M.Phil, '82 Ph.D. (GSAS) : The Hunt for da Vinci's Lost Salvator MundiColumbia Club of New York,weblink 2022-02-22, Columbia Club of New York, en, WEB, Finding Salvation: The Saga of da Vinci's Salvator Mundi with Robert Simon,weblink 2022-02-22, www.sarahlawrence.edu, en, JOURNAL, Simon, Robert B., 1983, Bronzino's Portrait of Cosimo I in Armour,weblink The Burlington Magazine, 125, 966, 527–539, 881272, 0007-6287,

Career in art

After graduating from Columbia, he worked as an art appraiser, researcher, and consultant of Old Master paintings.WEB, 2018-05-12, Meet the man who found the da Vinci that sold for a record US$450 million,weblink 2022-02-22, South China Morning Post, en, In 1997, he sold a watercolor by Richard Dadd and opened an art gallery on Upper East Side.WEB, June 12, 2020, Robert Simon Fine Art, New York,weblink February 21, 2022, Sotheby's, Simon has been described as part of an elite group of curators and dealers, known as the "eyes," who carry a unique instinct that can distinguish authentic paintings from copies and spot lost treasures.BOOK, Costamagna, Philippe,weblink The Eye: An Insider's Memoir of Masterpieces, Money, and the Magnetism of Art, 2018-08-14, New Vessel Press, 978-1-939931-70-2, en,

Salvator Mundi

In 2005, Simon, with his friend and colleague, art speculator Alexander Parish, acquired Da Vinci's original Salvator Mundi, then thought to be lost, from a New Orleans auction gallery for $1,175.WEB, Shaer, Matthew, 2019-04-14, How a $1,000 Art-Auction Bet Turned Into a $450 Million 'Da Vinci',weblink 2022-02-22, Vulture, en-us, He brought the painting to New York University professor Dianne Dwyer Modestini for a detailed restoration, and sent it to numerous scholars for verification that the painting had belonged to Da Vinci, including Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Keith Christiansen and National Gallery director Nicholas Penny. After it was authenticated, Simon loaned the painting to a few museums before putting it on sale, only to be frustrated by museums that balked at the $100 million price tag. Eventually, Simon sold the painting to Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier for a sum of $80 million, who then sold the painting to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million.WEB, OXFORD UNRAVELS SALVATOR MUNDI,weblink 2022-02-22, www.alumni.ox.ac.uk, en, Simon co-authored Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi and the Collecting of Leonardo in the Stuart Courts with art historians Martin Kemp and Margaret Dalivalle. The book was by Oxford University Press in 2019.WEB, 2019-10-16, New book on Leonardo's Salvator Mundi aims to be a definitive study—but it's not the last word on the controversial painting,weblink 2022-02-22, The Art Newspaper - International art news and events, He was also featured in the 2021 documentary, The Lost Leonardo.WEB, Cascone, Sarah, Kinsella, Eileen, 2021-08-27, 7 Unbelievable and Contentious Takeaways From a New Documentary About 'Salvator Mundi,' the $450 Million 'Lost Leonardo',weblink 2022-02-22, Artnet News, en-US, WEB, 2021-10-08, 'Savior For Sale: Da Vinci's Lost Masterpiece?' and Our Obsession With Scandal,weblink 2022-02-22, Observer, en-US,

See also

• The Lost Leonardo, 2021 film in which Simon is interviewed

References

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