Trade Secrets

Castelli letter to Peter B. Bensinger, December 6, 1961
In December 1961, the Chicago collector Peter Bensinger wrote to Castelli, with regret, that he no longer wished to purchase a Rauschenberg combine painting. The dealer responded graciously: “Please don’t be troubled at your change of heart. High enthusiasm for paintings is a commendable condition, and premature commitments frequent.” Willem de Kooning once said that Castelli never called his collectors clients, only friends. “Leo would never have been impolite to the collector,” says Bertozzi Castelli. “He was not a pushy person in general.” Did Bensinger ever regret his change of heart? These days, Rauschenberg combines often bring between $3 million and $10 million at auction.

Courtesy Leo Castelli Archive