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November 24th, 1944.

Dear Léger:

If you look into your files you will find my letter of April 15th., referring to the advance of Three Hundred and Fifty Dollars which was made at the time of the auction in which was the painting you were anxious to purchase, and I feel certain that after re-reading that letter you will find that this sum was considered strictly as an advance and not as part payment of a purchase we were making jointly. Hence the debit of $350., in the firms books - and that painting is solely your property.

On the other hand you told me when you came in on Wednesday, the 22nd., that you didn't feel the commission I had paid on the recent sale of the "Plongeurs", as per my firm's Credit Note of November 16th., should have been deducted from the sale price, and it is your contention that you and I should share this commission in equal parts, as well as the cost of the frame, which I have not yet paid for, - though when I called on you afew days before and explained to you that I had closed that transaction, I thought you had agreed with my accounting. However, as long as you feel that way, I am crediting your account with the difference between the sum shown on that statement and the way you want it, which results in a difference of $20., to your benefit. ^[[/109]]

Let me say, however that I in no way agree with you about this, as it has always been ethical and logical in our business to deduct from the original selling price, sales commissions to outside parties, as well as taxes. Furthermore, as regards the outcome of a deal, it makes no actual difference whether the 10% subtracted is paid as a commission, or as a discount to a museum, in which case it would practically be compulsory. What counts is the net sum. I personally have always been extremely pleased to be able to pay a commission to people who have helped me close a deal.

When we were interrupted in our conversation last Wednesday, you hinted that you felt there should be a difference in the percentage you allow when a painting is purchased outright and on which as a rule you give one-third, and the discount on a painting which you had left on consignment for sale with a dealer.  We were, as I said above, interrupted at that moment, and I suppose what you had in mind was to suggest that in case of a consigned painting being sold, the dealer should only receive twenty-five percent instead of thirty-three and one-third.

You will realize that if you applied this theory of the above paragraph, it would further reduce the 25% commission to the dealer, and this without taking into consideration the incidental expenses borne by him, such as trucking, packing, shipping, advertising, exhibitions - if any, etc.

Now as regards the exhibition we had vaguely broached, after going further into the matter and trying to set a date for it, I find that my plans for the first half of next

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