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L 101 Spring St. 
New York, N.Y. 10012
925-4319

October 30, 1973

Robin Schechter
Visual Arts Gallery
School Of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd St. 
New York, N.Y. 10012

RE: Damaged Don Judd piece

Robin Schechter:
This is to re-tell you the things we discussed on the telephone yesterday. You informed me that the piece by Don Judd, "untitled, (descrip: giant round front)? '66-'67, galvanized iron, painted (lacquered?) blue 76" x 25½" x 14½ ", collection Mr. & Mrs. Eugence Schwartz, lenders [[strikethrough]] t [[/strikethrough]] your exhibition, "American-Type Sc [[strikethrough]] h [[/strikethrough]] ulpture", is damaged. 

You described the damage, as, indentation and 2 scratches, on a recessed area. You also stated th[[strikethrough]] e [[/strikethrough]]at Hague was the packer/ and shipper. I have since discovered that the piece[[strikethrough]] s [[/strikethrough]] was stored, carefully wrapped in cardboard, at Santini Bros. warehouse, and there was no hole or damag [[strikethrough]] e upon its depar [[/strikethrough]] on its release. So we assume, long with Eugene Scwartz, that the cardboard was punctured IN TRANSIT ?, on the Hague truck. This is another case of outrageous carelessness on the part of Hague, one of the many continuing cases of damage to sculpture. 

You ask for the estimate, since the Schwartzes rightly "want the sculpture restored to its original condition." As I told you, Don is away on a business trip until about November 14th. He would have to look at the piece first, to estimate how damaged the galvanized iron is, and then the upper coat--the paint--would have to be stripped off the entire piece, in order to spray even the scratched area over again. This is bound to cost quite a bit. In some cases it is cheaper to destroy the piece, and remake it. I don't know if this would apply to this piece or not. 

As you gathered from my angry response on the phone, this will I hope, be some kind of learning experience for you and your staff. The collectors and the artist involved have become terribly cautious, and cynical. It's time that the so-called "art -packing & shipping business" learn that art is art and it is worth a lot, in different ways, and they should handle it as well, and hopefully, better than they handle antique french furniture. In future, the only packer/shipper we can recommend or allow to handle Don Judd's work, and others'), is Jim Lebron (274-0532) and Budworth (60 5-2194). 

Thanks, and you will hear from me by Nov. 14, if not sooner. 
Julie Finch