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The Museum of Modern Art

Department of Painting and Sculpture

February 7, 1984

Dear Mr. Schoelkopf:

The Museum of Modern Art is preparing a catalogue of the William and Mary Sisler Collection of twentieth century art for publication in November, 1984. The catalogue will include full entries of works of art which were previously and are at present in the possession of Mrs. Mary Sisler. Among the works to be included in the book is one box sculpture by Joseph Cornell which Lynda Hartigan , director of the Cornell Study Center, has dated approximately 1957-61.

Although Mrs. Sisler still owns this work, she has no information about where she purchased it. I am trying to contact dealers in New York who exhibited Cornell's work in the early 1960s in hopes of clearing up this mystery. Mrs. Sisler began collecting works of art around 1960/1961, making most of her purchases from New York-based dealers. By the early 1970s, she was actively dispersing her collection, but has kept a number of objects including the Cornell box. If Mrs. Sisler's name is unfamiliar to you, perhaps you might have known her son, David Hayes, who purchased works for her under his name.

Any information you may have regarding this work, and where it was purchased, if not from you, would be extremely helpful to our research. I hope that the xeroxed photograph is of some help in jogging your memory.

Thank you very much for   your time and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,
Lisa Kurzner
Lisa Kurzner
Research Assistant to
Francis Naumann

Mr. Robert Schoelkopf
Robert Schoelkopf Gallery Ltd.
825 Madison Avenue

11 West 53 Street, New York, N.Y. 10019-5486 Tel: 212-708-9400 Cable: MODERNART Telex: 62370 MODART