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Stephanie Ashley
Scope and Contents
The papers of Parisian art dealer, René Gimpel (1881-1945), dating from circa 1890-1966 (bulk 1902-1930s), and measuring 0.4 linear feet, provide a small but significant window into the crucial relationship between American collectors and the art dealers who supplied them, as they amassed some of the most influential art collections of the first half of the twentieth century. Gimpel's work as an art dealer is documented through correspondence with his parents, clients, business associates, and collectors, including Helen Frick and Duveen Brothers, Blake-More Godwin and the Toledo Museum of Art, Florence Libbey, Samuel H. Kress, Silva White, and others, and through printed material, writings by Gimpel, and photographs of René and Ernest Gimpel and others.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
A portion of the collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Lawrence S. Jeppson in 1971, who received it from Jean Gimpel as research for his book on art dealers. Another gift was donated by Jean Gimpel, René Gimpel's son, in 1972. Loaned material on reels 415-419 was microfilmed in London through Jean Gimpel in 1972.
Separated Materials
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reels 415-419, including diaries, 1918-1945, 22 volumes; ca. 750 letters, 1908-1945, including correspondence with Bernard Berenson, Mary Cassatt, Walter Gay, Malvina Hoffman, Arthur Lee, the Rockefeller family, Marcel Proust, and others; writings; a stockbook and price lists; and exhibition catalogs. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Stephanie Ashley in 2019.