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March 1st, 1975

Mr. Richard M. Ader
Greenbaum, Wolf & Ernst
437 Madison Avenue
New York, New York  10021

Dear Mr. Ader:

Thank you for the opportunity to be a candidate in the matter of the dispersal of Joseph Cornell's estate.

I should like to represent the estate as a consignee at the prevailing terms, that is, on a 60/40 basis. Any discounts, institutional, dealer, or other should come from the agent's commission. Prices should be established by the dealer who should be presumed to be knowledgeable. In the event of any dispute about pricing, the estate's opinion would prevail.

I cannot contemplate purchase of the lot offered, nor, I suspect, would it be in the interest of the estate at this time to sell. At present I believe no dealer would be desirous of a guarantee-purchase plan except at the most advantageous terms as the trend of the Cornell market has been downward for the past six months. With the exhibition next month at the ACA Gallery of work from the niece's collection, the market will be seen to be saturated. With the addition of the estate's 100 works it might fairly be regarded as flooded. Today half a dozen dealers in New York have two or more boxes for sale. There are Cornells available in Chicago, London and Paris. Many collectors have anticipated the current situation by offering works for sale. In other words, it may be 'a buyer's market', in spite of the sale two weeks ago in Chicago of an excellent box for 35 thousand dollars.

In view of this situation, there ought to be strict limitation of the quantity of works offered by the estate even though it cannot control what is presented for sale by other owners of Cornells. I believe that in the present market the group offered now by the executors may be too large. If the estate wishes to sell a number of Cornells under current conditions, the works presented must be of the highest level. This is perhaps not to be said of the boxes in the selection at Cirker's Hayes.. While the collages are of excellent quality, there is little among the boxes to compare with the level of