Armand Hammer’s art-dealing empire began, as with many things in his life, with the Soviets, per the New York Times. After helping the country with much-needed shipments from a hostile United States, Hammer was given the freedom to take Russian art pieces back home and sell them, making an estimated $11 million. He arranged the Hammer Galleries as a means to organize his art-dealing and then spent $100 million to form the Hammer Museum, per Vanity Fair. He then spread his influence elsewhere. In 1971, he bought the historic New York Knoedler Gallery for $2.5 million (per The Conversation) and had his name attached to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Hall of Arms and Armor, per Vanity Fair.
But Michael Hammer erased much of his father’s art legacy once he gained control of the estate. The Hammer Museum was given to the UCLA art department, and Armand’s most-prized possession, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Leicester, which he once renamed after himself, was sold to Bill Gates for $30 million, per The Washington Post. Michael retained control of the Knoedler Gallery, but a scandal eventually dissolved it, per The Conversation.
It’s probably for the best, though; Armand may have built his empire on fakes. According to journalist Edward Jay Epstein’s book, “Dossier: The Secret History of Armand Hammer,” when Armand popularized the Fabergé Egg early in his career, he may have stretched the truth of their authenticity, per the Los Angeles Times and PBS.
