Tod Volpe was one of the first American art dealers to bring world-class American art to European museums and important private collections, and to develop interest in American art from major figures in fashion, cultural and society circles throughout Europe.
Tod sparked enthusiasm from heralded museums across the pond such as The Victoria and Albert Museum, The British Museum, and Musee d’Orsay in Paris, which under his guidance acquired major examples of the Fine and Decorative Art Movement (Rosetti, Voysey, William Morris ) that compared favorably to their own Aesthetic Movement.
Invited to lecture on the value of fine and decorative arts in society, Tod and his gallery colleagues educated Western European museums and inspired them to purchase pieces and accept loans and gifts from the American Art World. Tod formed important alliances with The Fine Arts Society and with pioneer dealers Victor Arwas, Richard Green and Yuval Hanina.
Tod furnished French publisher Daniel Filipacci Hachete’s home in Paris, and assisted English heiress Isabel Goldsmith in her pursuit of treasures for her London town house.
Tod also spearheaded the ground-breaking English showcase of Martin Brothers Ceramics, an exhibition that went on to tour numerous landmark museums (The Everson Museum of Art, Delaware Museum of Art, and others). Via non-stop effort, expense and the formation of crucial alliances with leading art journalists such as Isabel Anscombe and photographer Howard Gray Building, Tod was instrumental in building the international art scene. In turn, Tod became a world-renowned entrepreneur who continued to open doors for the future across the European continent and beyond.