Jacques Seligmann & Co. Records, New York Office Correspondence: L, 1913-1922

Jacques Seligmann & Co. were international art galleries in New York City and Paris, France, founded in 1880 in Paris, France and closed in 1978. The company's clients included most of the major American and European art collectors of the era, and the art that passed through its galleries often ended up in the collection of prominent American and European museums. The firm was active in antiquities, decorative arts, Renaissance art, and was among the first to foster contemporary European art. During the years following WWII, the firm was involved in the recovery of looted artwork and property, and the sale of several significant collections. The history of the Jacques Seligmann & Co. New York Office, established in 1904, is well documented in these letters. The letters are mostly written by Jacques Seligmann and his son, Germain Seligman (who dropped the second 'n' from his last name), while in the New York office on frequent trips to the United States. The subjects covered in the correspondence are diverse and primarily concern possible sales or purchases. Found are letters to clients, collectors, dealers, and business associates, most of them American. Between 1920 and 1922, the firm was managed primarily by Jacques's colleague Eugene Glaenzer and nephew René Seligmann and depended on the Paris office for most of its inventory. When Germain Seligman completed his military service shortly after World War I, he became actively involved in the business affairs of the New York office and began to cultivate and increase the number of the firm's clients and collectors in the United States. Jacques Seligmann died in 1923, and Eugene Glaenzer a few months later, and in 1924 Germain became head of the company. Germain then began to dramatically increase the business of the New York office, thus marking the transition of the firm's headquarters from Paris to New York. Read the more in the Jacques Seligmann & Co. Records finding aid on the Archives of American Art website.