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April 25th., 1947

Dear Mr. Chadourne:

This letter is in answer to yours of April 5th., in which you were good enough to acknowledge receipt of my monograph on Roger de La Fresnaye, which I appreciated very much.

I can assure you that it was with reluctance that I published this study, without having the possibility, because of the war, of communicating with men like yourself or Mr. de Mire, who actually know so much more about this great artist than I did; but it had been my desire for such a long time to express some of my views in connection with his accomplishments, and also by doing this pay humble tribute to the memory of so neglected a man, as you will realize comparatively little had been published.

Had I waited until the war would be over, as when I started this undertaking the end of the conflict was a great question mark, in order to gather a fuller documentation, I feared that other preoccupations would have delayed anew the appearance of this album.

However, as incomplete as it is, of these sadly short years, so full in richness of inventive spirit, I have tried (I hope successfully) to divide his oeuvre into segments based on his evolution, in my start of a catlogue, which could be continued by those who would care to do so, or even by me personally.

I would, therefore, greatly welcome the opportunity of seeing you again in Paris late this spring, and also look at some of the documents you mention.

Talking about these, do I recall correctly when I refer to a very complete watercolor of the "Quatorze Juillet" which you owned, and may I inquire whether you still have it?

With renewed thanks for your kind letter,

believe me to be, 

Yours very sincerely,

(Germain Seligman)

Mr. Paul Chadourne
28 rue de Lisbonne
Paris
France