Jacques Seligmann & Company
Encyclopedia
Jacques Seligmann & Co. was a French and American art dealer and gallery specializing in decorative art
and antiques. It is considered one of the foremost dealers and galleries in fostering appreciation for the collecting of contemporary European art. Many pieces purchased through Jacques Seligmann & Co. now reside in the collections of fine art museums and galleries worldwide, donated to those institutions by private purchasers of work from the dealer.
, France
in 1880 by Jacques Seligmann
(1858-1923), a German émigré
who arrived in France in 1874 and became a French citizen. The small gallery, located on the Rue du Sommerard
quickly became successful and in 1900 moved to a better location: Galerie Seligmann, on the Place Vendôme
. Jacques' two brothers, Simon and Arnold, joined the gallery during this time, Simon as accountant
and Arnold handling correspondence with clients. Jacques remained manager and handled all purchases. The demand of the American
market led the gallery to open a New York office at 7 West 36th St in 1904. In 1909 Seligmann bought the Palais de Sagan in Paris, which served as the showcase venue for large exhibitions and client visits. Early notable clientele included Edmond James de Rothschild
, the Stroganov
family, Philip Sassoon
, Benjamin Altman
, William Randolph Hearst
, J. P. Morgan
, Henry Walters
, and Joseph Widener.
A family quarrel erupted in 1912 and a lawsuit split the company: Arnold retained the Place Vendôme venue and changed the name to Arnold Seligmann & Co. and Jacques moved his headquarters to the Palais de Sagan and opened a new space at 17 Place Vendôme. Shortly thereafter Jacques' Place Vendôme space moved to 9 Rue de la Paix
and the New York office move to a larger space at 705 Fifth Avenue. As one family member left, another joined Jacques Seligmann & Co., Germain Seligman
, Jacques' son (the second n
being dropped from his name when he became an American citizen). Germain learned skills in customer service
and sales, accompanying his father on purchase trips. In 1910 he went to St. Petersburg, Russia to investigate the selling of the Swenigorodskoi enamels. Germain left the gallery in 1914 to fight for the French army
in World War I
and returned to rejoin the family company as a partner in 1920. Upon his father's death in 1923, Germain became president of the company.
related to Byzantine
and Renaissance periods to satisfy the trends of the time. At the turn of the century, as tastes evolved, so did the gallery's inventory. World War I caused a lapse in sales in Europe, but interest in the United States was high specifically in modern art
and Impressionism
. After the war sales resumed in Europe and Germain started to sell works by Pierre Bonnard
, Honoré Daumier
, Pablo Picasso
, Vincent van Gogh
, and other modern masters. Other members of the family disapproved of Germain's modern interests, and he eventually formed a subsidiary
, International Contemporary Art Company, Inc., along with business partner César Mange de Hauke. The name changed to de Hauke & Company, as de Hauke was named director, and it focused on contemporary European art. Purchases were made in Paris and London
and sales were primarily in the United States.
The sales of these contemporary works were sold as inventory through Jacques Seligmann & Co. or privately by de Hauke's company. A complicated process regarding commission and ownership, a space was provided for de Hauke & Co. in the New York gallery where Jacques Seligmann & Co. was headquartered, now at 3 E. 51st St.
During the late 1920s de Hauke exhibited the work of the French School
in New York, his favorites leaning towards drawings and watercolors. His exhibitions frequently showed work by Paul Cézanne
, Eugène Delacroix
, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
, Jean Ingres and Georges Seurat. Pablo Picasso was featured twice, first in 1936 with paintings from the Blue Period
and the Rose Period
, and second in the November 1937 exhibition Twenty Years in the Evolution of Picasso which showcased the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
which Seligman had acquired from the Jacques Doucet
estate. The Museum of Modern Art
acquired the painting for $24,000 raising $18,000 toward the purchase price by selling a Degas
painting and obtaining the remainder from donations by the co-owners of the gallery Germain Seligman and Cesar de Hauke.
The success of de Hauke & Co. changed the attitudes of the Seligmann family in regard to their interest in modern art sales and eventually de Hauke & Co. was renamed Modern Paintings, Inc. De Hauke was named director but tensions arose and by 1931 he had resigned and moved back to Paris.
of the company. In 1935 another subsidary was founded: the Contemporary American Department, which was formed to represent emerging American artists, led by gallery employee Theresa D. Parker. In Paris, the city offered to purchase Palais de Sagan in connection with plans for the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in 1937. Jacques Seligmann & Co. focused its Paris business at the Rue de la Paix location, and New York became the international headquarters. Germain's half-brother, Francois-Gérard, ran the Paris office, and Germain continued to travel back and forth across the Atlantic
until he made New York his permanent residence in 1939. Germain served on the Exhibition Committee for the 1939 New York World's Fair
, coordinating the art area and the French art section.
In June 1940 as the Germans occupied Paris the company's sales plummeted and that summer the Seligmann galleries and family holdings were seized by the Vichy government
, including Germain's private art collection. The majority of the Paris firm's stock and the family house and contents were sold at private auction
. The family burned their Paris archives in order to prevent their acquisition by the Nazi's. The New York office moved from 51st St. to a smaller space at 5 E. 57th St.
. Arnold Seligmann & Co. was left without a director, and Germain consolidated the two family businesses after a reconciliation between quarreling family members. The financial and administrative interests of the Paris and New York offices were separated, and remained linked only by association.
After the war, Jacques Seligmann & Co. focused heavily on the recovery of looted art
and property, as well as on the organization of business matters. In 1951 Germain sold the House of Arenberg
's family collection of illuminated manuscripts, engravings and paintings, including Portrait of a Young Woman by Johannes Vermeer
which sold for over a quarter million dollars. In 1953 they sold works from the collection of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein
, and purchased seven Italian marble
sculptures which were sold to the Kress Foundation in 1954. The firm continued to exhibit works by contemporary artists, only to turn the focus back towards traditional art and drawings, struggling to regain the leading edge they once held in the art market. The firm closed in 1978 after the death, that year, of Germain Seligman
.
are now out of print. His Roger de la Fresnaye
, with a Catalogue Raisonné, (1969) was declared one of the "Best Ten Books of the Year" by the New York Times. The company records were donated in 1978 by Ethlyne Seligman, the widow of Germain Seligman, to the Archives of American Art
, with an additional being donated in 1994. In 2001 the collection was processed with funding by the Getty Foundation
, followed by a $100,000 grant from the Kress Foundation to fully digitize the collection for online public access. Many institutions maintain works of art that once passed through Jacques Seligmann & Co. including:
Decorative art
The decorative arts is traditionally a term for the design and manufacture of functional objects. It includes interior design, but not usually architecture. The decorative arts are often categorized in opposition to the "fine arts", namely, painting, drawing, photography, and large-scale...
and antiques. It is considered one of the foremost dealers and galleries in fostering appreciation for the collecting of contemporary European art. Many pieces purchased through Jacques Seligmann & Co. now reside in the collections of fine art museums and galleries worldwide, donated to those institutions by private purchasers of work from the dealer.
A family affair
Jacques Seligmann & Co. was founded in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1880 by Jacques Seligmann
Jacques Seligmann
Jacques Seligmann was a highly successful antiquarian and art dealer with businesses in both Paris and New York...
(1858-1923), a German émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
who arrived in France in 1874 and became a French citizen. The small gallery, located on the Rue du Sommerard
Rue du Sommerard
The rue des Mathurins, now known as the rue du Sommerard after Alexandre Du Sommerard, is a street in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, in the Sorbonne quarter....
quickly became successful and in 1900 moved to a better location: Galerie Seligmann, on the Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme
Place Vendôme is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It is the starting point of the Rue de la Paix. Its regular architecture by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and pedimented screens canted across the...
. Jacques' two brothers, Simon and Arnold, joined the gallery during this time, Simon as accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
and Arnold handling correspondence with clients. Jacques remained manager and handled all purchases. The demand of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market led the gallery to open a New York office at 7 West 36th St in 1904. In 1909 Seligmann bought the Palais de Sagan in Paris, which served as the showcase venue for large exhibitions and client visits. Early notable clientele included Edmond James de Rothschild
Edmond James de Rothschild
Baron Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Zionism, his generous donations lent significant support to the movement during its early years, which helped lead to the establishment of the State of Israel.- Early years :A...
, the Stroganov
Stroganovs
The Stroganovs or Strogonovs , also spelled in French manner as Stroganoffs, were a family of highly successful Russian merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen of the 16th – 20th centuries who eventually earned nobility.-Origins:...
family, Philip Sassoon
Philip Sassoon
Sir Philip Albert Gustave David Sassoon, 3rd Baronet, GBE, CMG , was a British politician, art collector and social host, entertaining many celebrity guests at his homes, Port Lympne, Kent, and Trent Park, Hertfordshire, England.-Family:Sassoon was a member of the prominent Sassoon family and...
, Benjamin Altman
Benjamin Altman
Benjamin Altman was born and died in New York City. He was the son of Bavarian Jews who emigrated to America in 1835 and opened a small store on Attorney Street in NYC....
, William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
, Henry Walters
Henry Walters
Henry Walters was president of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad until he retired in 1902. He was founder of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.-Biography:...
, and Joseph Widener.
A family quarrel erupted in 1912 and a lawsuit split the company: Arnold retained the Place Vendôme venue and changed the name to Arnold Seligmann & Co. and Jacques moved his headquarters to the Palais de Sagan and opened a new space at 17 Place Vendôme. Shortly thereafter Jacques' Place Vendôme space moved to 9 Rue de la Paix
Rue de la Paix, Paris
The rue de la Paix is a fashionable shopping street in the center of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, running north from Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jewellers, such as the shop opened by Cartier SA in 1898...
and the New York office move to a larger space at 705 Fifth Avenue. As one family member left, another joined Jacques Seligmann & Co., Germain Seligman
Germain Seligman
Germain Seligman was a successful art dealer, collector, and art historian. From 1924, Seligman headed the Paris and New York offices of Jacques Seligmann & Cie., a prominent art dealership...
, Jacques' son (the second n
N
N is the fourteenth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.- History of the forms :One of the most common hieroglyphs, snake, was used in Egyptian writing to stand for a sound like English ⟨J⟩, because the Egyptian word for "snake" was djet...
being dropped from his name when he became an American citizen). Germain learned skills in customer service
Customer service
Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.According to Turban et al. , “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer...
and sales, accompanying his father on purchase trips. In 1910 he went to St. Petersburg, Russia to investigate the selling of the Swenigorodskoi enamels. Germain left the gallery in 1914 to fight for the French army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and returned to rejoin the family company as a partner in 1920. Upon his father's death in 1923, Germain became president of the company.
Decorative to modern
In the early years Jacques Seligmann & Co. focused on the purchase and sales of decorative artDecorative art
The decorative arts is traditionally a term for the design and manufacture of functional objects. It includes interior design, but not usually architecture. The decorative arts are often categorized in opposition to the "fine arts", namely, painting, drawing, photography, and large-scale...
related to Byzantine
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
and Renaissance periods to satisfy the trends of the time. At the turn of the century, as tastes evolved, so did the gallery's inventory. World War I caused a lapse in sales in Europe, but interest in the United States was high specifically in modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
and Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
. After the war sales resumed in Europe and Germain started to sell works by Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a founding member of Les Nabis.-Biography:...
, Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century....
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
, and other modern masters. Other members of the family disapproved of Germain's modern interests, and he eventually formed a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
, International Contemporary Art Company, Inc., along with business partner César Mange de Hauke. The name changed to de Hauke & Company, as de Hauke was named director, and it focused on contemporary European art. Purchases were made in Paris and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and sales were primarily in the United States.
The sales of these contemporary works were sold as inventory through Jacques Seligmann & Co. or privately by de Hauke's company. A complicated process regarding commission and ownership, a space was provided for de Hauke & Co. in the New York gallery where Jacques Seligmann & Co. was headquartered, now at 3 E. 51st St.
51st Street (Manhattan)
51st Street is a long one-way street traveling east to west across Midtown Manhattan.-East 51st Street:*The route officially begins at Beekman Place which is on a hill overlooking FDR Drive...
During the late 1920s de Hauke exhibited the work of the French School
School of Paris
School of Paris refers to two distinct groups of artists — a group of medieval manuscript illuminators, and a group of non-French artists working in Paris before World War I...
in New York, his favorites leaning towards drawings and watercolors. His exhibitions frequently showed work by Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
, Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
, Jean Ingres and Georges Seurat. Pablo Picasso was featured twice, first in 1936 with paintings from the Blue Period
Blue Period
The Blue Period is a term used to define to the works produced by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso between 1901 and 1904, when he painted essentially monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally warmed by other colors...
and the Rose Period
Rose Period
The Rose Period signifies the time when the style of Pablo Picasso's painting used cheerful orange and pink colours in contrast to the cool, somber tones of the previous Blue Period. It lasted from 1904 to 1906. Picasso was happy in his relationship with Fernande Olivier whom he had met in 1904 and...
, and second in the November 1937 exhibition Twenty Years in the Evolution of Picasso which showcased the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
He followed his success by developing into his Rose period from 1904 to 1907, which introduced a strong element of sensuality and sexuality into his work...
which Seligman had acquired from the Jacques Doucet
Jacques Doucet (fashion designer)
Jacques Doucet was a French fashion designer, known for his elegant dresses, made with flimsy translucent materials in superimposing pastel colors....
estate. The Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
acquired the painting for $24,000 raising $18,000 toward the purchase price by selling a Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
painting and obtaining the remainder from donations by the co-owners of the gallery Germain Seligman and Cesar de Hauke.
The success of de Hauke & Co. changed the attitudes of the Seligmann family in regard to their interest in modern art sales and eventually de Hauke & Co. was renamed Modern Paintings, Inc. De Hauke was named director but tensions arose and by 1931 he had resigned and moved back to Paris.
World War II
In 1934 Modern Paintings, Inc. was dissolved, its assets being absorbed by Jacques Seligmann & Co. and Tessa Corporation, another subsidiarySubsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of the company. In 1935 another subsidary was founded: the Contemporary American Department, which was formed to represent emerging American artists, led by gallery employee Theresa D. Parker. In Paris, the city offered to purchase Palais de Sagan in connection with plans for the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in 1937. Jacques Seligmann & Co. focused its Paris business at the Rue de la Paix location, and New York became the international headquarters. Germain's half-brother, Francois-Gérard, ran the Paris office, and Germain continued to travel back and forth across the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
until he made New York his permanent residence in 1939. Germain served on the Exhibition Committee for the 1939 New York World's Fair
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair, which covered the of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park , was the second largest American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people...
, coordinating the art area and the French art section.
In June 1940 as the Germans occupied Paris the company's sales plummeted and that summer the Seligmann galleries and family holdings were seized by the Vichy government
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, including Germain's private art collection. The majority of the Paris firm's stock and the family house and contents were sold at private auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
. The family burned their Paris archives in order to prevent their acquisition by the Nazi's. The New York office moved from 51st St. to a smaller space at 5 E. 57th St.
57th Street (Manhattan)
57th Street is one of New York City's major east-west thoroughfares, which runs east-west in the Midtown section of the borough of Manhattan, from the New York City Department of Sanitation's dock on the Hudson River at the West Side Highway to a small park overlooking the East River built on a...
. Arnold Seligmann & Co. was left without a director, and Germain consolidated the two family businesses after a reconciliation between quarreling family members. The financial and administrative interests of the Paris and New York offices were separated, and remained linked only by association.
Later years
Looted art
Looted art has been a consequence of looting during war, natural disaster and riot for centuries. Looting of art, archaeology and other cultural property may be an opportunistic criminal act, or may be a more organized case of unlawful or unethical pillage by the victor of a conflict."Looted art"...
and property, as well as on the organization of business matters. In 1951 Germain sold the House of Arenberg
House of Arenberg
The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families who took their name from Arenberg, a small principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot made the Arenbergs the most influential and most wealthy...
's family collection of illuminated manuscripts, engravings and paintings, including Portrait of a Young Woman by Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
which sold for over a quarter million dollars. In 1953 they sold works from the collection of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein
Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein
Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, , was the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein from 1938 until his death...
, and purchased seven Italian marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
sculptures which were sold to the Kress Foundation in 1954. The firm continued to exhibit works by contemporary artists, only to turn the focus back towards traditional art and drawings, struggling to regain the leading edge they once held in the art market. The firm closed in 1978 after the death, that year, of Germain Seligman
Germain Seligman
Germain Seligman was a successful art dealer, collector, and art historian. From 1924, Seligman headed the Paris and New York offices of Jacques Seligmann & Cie., a prominent art dealership...
.
Legacy
Germain Seligman's numerous publications on fine artFine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
are now out of print. His Roger de la Fresnaye
Roger de La Fresnaye
Roger de La Fresnaye was a French cubist painter.-Early years and education:La Fresnaye was born in Le Mans where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed. The La Fresnayes were an aristocratic family whose ancestral home, the Château de La Fresnaye, is in Falaise...
, with a Catalogue Raisonné, (1969) was declared one of the "Best Ten Books of the Year" by the New York Times. The company records were donated in 1978 by Ethlyne Seligman, the widow of Germain Seligman, to the Archives of American Art
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...
, with an additional being donated in 1994. In 2001 the collection was processed with funding by the Getty Foundation
Getty Foundation
The Getty Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California, at the Getty Center, awards grants for "the understanding and preservation of the visual arts". In the past, it funded the Getty Leadership Institute for "current and future museum leaders", which is now at Claremont Graduate University. Its...
, followed by a $100,000 grant from the Kress Foundation to fully digitize the collection for online public access. Many institutions maintain works of art that once passed through Jacques Seligmann & Co. including:
- Contrast of Forms by Fernand LégerFernand LégerJoseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, 1913; Philadelphia Museum of Art - Dance at Bougival by Pierre-Auguste RenoirPierre-Auguste RenoirPierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
, 1883; Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas... - The Empress Eugénie by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1854; Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Man with a Guitar by Pablo Picasso, 1912; Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThe Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
- Mitten Gauntlet for the Left Hand, attributed to Anton Peffenhauser, 1563; Saint Louis Art MuseumSaint Louis Art MuseumThe Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free through a subsidy from the cultural tax district for St. Louis City and County.Located in Forest Park in St...
- Washerwomen in a Willow Grove, 1871, Camille Corot; Clark Art InstituteClark Art InstituteThe Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute, usually referred to simply as "The Clark", is an art museum with a large and varied collection located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States...