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112 East 54th St.
New York, N.Y.

May

Dear Sir:

Upon my arrival in New York, Mr. Germain Seligman turned over to me your letter of May 10th which he just received, and which he asked me to answer as he in turn had to leave New York on an extensive trip.

These lines are thus written in both our names.

I was much perturbed to read of the experiences you have met with and trust that as you state matters will straighten out thanks to the help the Norwegian government is willing to give you.

This evidently explains the reason why Mr. Seligman's letter to you from Paris in answer to the letter you had written to him from the military Hospital in Paris had never reached you.

You have probably heard meanwhile from Zurich that we had both gone to look at the painting. That this painting is of interest to us is obvious, but as we both explained to you and particularly Mr. Seligman, from the conversation I had with him on this subject we have to be assured of certain fundamentals before proceeding any further - namely (and this is the [[underline]]most important[[/underline]] point)that this painting was exported legally, in other words with the full assent of its country of origin. You will certainly understand this.

Such an important work of art can only be proposed to one of two or three museums in this country and such a acquisition would immediately be greatly publicized. In what position would the public institution or Mr. Seligman then be if they were met with claims from the country of origin.

You have certainly heard of the case of a couple of years ago - the Italian primitive purchased by the Metropolitan Museum which had been exported illegally from Italy. It led to all sorts of official and diplomatic remonstrances and complications of a very disagreeable nature.

We of course do not suspect that this is the case with the painting you so kindly proposed to us, but in view of past experiences and examples you will certainly understand our desire to be fully protected and I am therefore asking you to be so good as to submit proof by documents of the official sanction given for exportation purposes by said country, export license etc.

^[[3 handwritten lines cross corner-to-corner through text of letter]]