Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974

This small series houses the legal and financial files of the subsidiary company Modern Paintings, Inc., which was established in 1930 to incorporate most of the inventory of the liquidated de Hauke & Co., Inc. The stock consisted primarily of contemporary (late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century) European paintings. Modern Paintings, Inc., was not only a subsidiary of Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc., but also of Tessa Corp., a joint company established by various Seligmann family members who owned inventory of the Paris company when it was legally dissolved and became a branch office of the New York corporation. Modern Paintings, Inc., was liquidated between 1931 and 1934, and most of the stock became the inventory of Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc., or Gersel Corp., although many of the paintings remained jointly owned by family members or César de Hauke.

Found in this series are scattered correspondence and contracts regarding liquidation and shipping. One file of particular interest contains miscellaneous correspondence, notes, invoices, and other documentation of sales and purchases with dealers such as Bernheim-Jeune, Wildenstein & Co., Inc., and others. There are also inventory lists; bound approval journals that list artwork sent out to potential clients on approval for sale and include names of the clients and lists of artwork; two purchases and sales bound ledgers; two bound general ledgers; consignment invoices for artwork on consignment either to or from the company for sale; and miscellaneous financial notes. Also included are a 1930-1932 bound journal containing an indexed and chronological group of credit and invoice notes; a 1926-1930 bound journal/ledger with reports of accounts, balance sheets, and inventory lists that predates Modern Paintings, Inc., and is primarily for de Hauke & Co., Inc.; and bound shipping and insurance logbooks.

Researchers should note that this series houses information concerning several significant purchases, sales, and commission sales of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century European artwork that were handled through Modern Paintings, Inc., rather than the parent company of Jacques Seligmann & Co.

This series has been scanned in entirety. Blank pages in bound volumes have not been scanned and there will be gaps in the page numbering of these volumes.