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

This subseries contains personal information about Germain Seligman and the Seligmann family. Material includes photographs of family members, including Jacques and Germain, a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Val Dudensing, and photographs of properties owned by Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc., including the Hôtel de Sagan. Correspondence including letters of condolence following the death of Jacques Seligmann. Résumés summarize Seligman's work experience and achievements. There are also travel diaries containing daily lists of routine travel expenses, and immigration documentation.

This subseries documents the content and the administration of Germain Seligman's personal art collection and includes a copy of The Collection of Germain Seligman: Paintings, Drawings, and Works of Art,published in 1979. The bulk of the material consists of reference files to the collection, which typically contain provenance information, notes, printed material, and photographs of works of art. These files can be cross-referenced with the material in the Inventory Notebooks, which duplicate some of the information found in the Collection Reference Files. Researchers should be aware that there is some confusion in the records about what constitutes Notebooks I, II and III. Headings provided in the Container Listing for "Inventory Notebooks" are contradicted by headings found in the folder titled "Lists."

The remainder of the material comprises invoices chronicling sales and purchases of artwork made by Germain and Ethlyne J. Seligman, inventory notebooks, and consignment and loan records. Material documenting the liquidation of the Seligman Estate and inquiries into the disposition of his business archives can also be found here.

This subseries documents the published and unpublished writings of Germain Seligman and works co-authored with his wife. The subseries includes drafts and published copies of documents, correspondence regarding projects, research notes, and other supporting material including printed material and photographs of works of art. Reviews of some of Seligman's writings can also be found here. Material is organized into four subseries sections.

Records found here document research for, and publication of, four books by Germain Seligman. His 1969 edition, Roger de La Fresnaye, with a Catalogue Raisonné, received awards and was highly lauded by art scholars and curators. This work follows from an earlier 1945 monograph on the artist that Seligman wrote, but the 1969 version added more detailed information about the artist and his works and included many illustrations, of which thirty-two were reproduced in color and hand-mounted as plates in the text. Merchants of Art, 1880-1960: Eighty Years of Professional Collecting, published in 1961, provides a history of Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc., along with Germain's reminiscences about his father and important collectors and collections that were associated with the firm. The Drawings of Georges Seurat was published in 1947, followed thereafter by the 1952 publication of Oh! Fickle Taste; or, Objectivity in Art, in which Seligman addresses the importance of political and social climates in understanding the evolution of art collecting in the United States.

In addition to general research material, files relating to Roger de La Fresnaye, with a Catalogue Raisonné include correspondence with individuals such as Jean Cocteau, Victor and Jean Hugo, and Simone de La Fresnaye. Notes include documentation of interviews conducted with dealers and friends of de La Fresnaye. Some interviewees Germain consulted include Georges Auric, Suzanne de Balasy, Mme. Philippe Clement, Bernard Dorival, Jean Hugo, Valentine Hugo, Mme. Henry Kapferer, Mme. Klotz, M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., Valentine de Miré, Georges Moos, Mme. E. Nebelthau, and André Dunoyer de Sagonzac. Also found are two working manuscripts of the publication with handwritten notes scattered throughout and an addendum to the catalog in the form of an article published in Revue de L'Art in 1972. An early draft of the same article translated into English is also included here.

Files relating to Merchants of Art begin with a draft of the publication, which is dated 1959 in the preface. This appears to be a later version of the 1955 draft of Our Business Is Their Pleasure (Seligman's original title for the book), which can also be found here. Our Business Is Their Pleasure was apparently translated into French as Le Musée Dispersé, and two working copies of a draft of this manuscript are also included here. The records also contain correspondence relating to publication and rights to reproduction of artwork, information that Seligman compiled about significant art collections, and reviews upon publication of the book. Two glass negatives and a photographic print of a painting of Jacques Seligmann (used as an illustration for Merchants of Art) can be found in Family and Biographical Material (Series 12.1).

This subseries includes published and unpublished articles by Germain Seligman as well as supporting material such as correspondence, research material, printed material, and photographs of works of art. Arrangement is alphabetical by title of article, thereafter by subject. Material within folders is chronological.

This subseries includes notes and related research material for a lecture on paintings of the Netherlands and observations on collecting that were possibly delivered as a lecture. Arrangement is alphabetical by subject. Materials within folders is chronological.

In this subseries are copies of published articles and related research material that Germain Seligman co-authored with his wife, Ethlyne J. Seligman.

Documents in this subseries include certificates of award and war service records, along with correspondence regarding Germain's various awards for distinguished service. Also included are applications and correspondence with the U.S. War Department, as well as with the French General Consulate, regarding Germain's application for a military commission in the United States Armed Forces during World War II.

Records in this subseries chronicle Germain Seligman's personal financial affairs and include records of taxes and investments. Correspondence with a Madrid bank in 1945-1957 includes documentation of frozen assets that Germain eventually liquidated.

Material found here relates primarily to research projects undertaken by Ethlyne J. Seligman for Germain Seligman or on her own behalf. Projects include the art of Jacques-Louis David, the cloisters of Chartreuse in Paris, a portrait of Henri II, and pre-Columbian art and culture. The subseries also contains a notebook entitled "Library Catalog," but it is not clear if the notebook refers to Seligman's personal library or to another collection. An incomplete copy of the volume L'Art du Dix-Huitième Siècle can also be found here.