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3 East 51st. St.,
New York, New York. 
March 12th., 1938. 

Dear Bob: 

I thank you for your long and explanatory letter of March 10th., which I have just received. 

As I have been very much disturbed with the fight which goes on, I asked Jules G. to come over, and we have just had a conference together with René. J. is not of the opinion of taking special steps, as he thinks that DE SYLVA knows his own mind - so I leave it to you to fight it out the best you can. 

It it actually comes to a show-down, you will have to stand on the merits and the quality of the paintings and have Mr. Harold Grieve produce other paintings of such high standard. 

Of course I am talking from New York, never having seen the man nor knowing anything about Los Angeles, but in view of what Jules has just said, I think that if I were facing Mr. de S. I would tell him that,"I am not trying force the sale of any particular painting if you don't like it,"- but that "the point I want to emphasize is the quality, the scarcity and the aesthetic value of these "chefs d'oeuvre"", and that they are all worthy of any collection or museum - the rest is up to him. 

I suppose you know sufficiently what you have in hand to give foundation to your statement, whether it is the Picasso, the "Modiste" the Manet or the vanGogh "Postman". 

I think that, essentially, those would be my selling points. You can't force a man to like a painting, but you can convince him - in view of the standing of the firm - of the supreme quality of the items you show him and I would lay particular weight on what the firm stands for. 

You realize how anxious I am to hear from you and trust that some time during the course of the afternoon, on Tuesday, I will hear from you. Don't forget that it is four hours later in New York! 

Best regards,

(Germain Séligmann)

Robert M. Levy, Esq., 
Beverly Wilshire Hotel,  
[[strikethrough]] Los Angeles [[/strikethrough]] Beverly Hills, Cal.

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