Germain Seligman (25 February 1893, Paris – 27 March 1978, New York) 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. Originally named Germain Seligmann with two Ns, he dropped one of them in 1943 when he obtained United States citizenship."Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974"
''Archives of American Art''. Retrieved 15 July 2011.

Biography

Beginnings

The son of

Jacques Seligmann Jacques (Jacob) Seligmann (18 September 1858, in Frankfurt-am-Main – 30 October 1923, in Paris) was a highly successful antiquarian and art dealer with businesses in both Paris and New York. He was one of the first to foster American interest in ...

, a German-born French and American antiquarian and art dealer, Seligman was raised in Paris in the luxurious Hôtel de Monaco. He showed an early interest in art and often visited the company's galleries together with his father who introduced him to the art trade. He frequently joined his father on business trips including a one to St. Petersburg in 1910 in connection with the acquisition of the Swenigorodskoi enamels. Seligman joined the French army immediately after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in 1914 where he served first in the 132nd Infantry Regiment of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

and, from 1916, in the 24th Infantry Brigade where he was promoted to captain. In 1917, he acted as liaison officer to the First Division of the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...

where he served as translator for George C. Marshall.

Moving company priorities to modern art

In 1920, after being discharged at the end of the war, Seligman became a partner in his father's company. As a result, the name was changed to Jacques Seligmann et Fils. He became president of the New York office where he concentrated fully on art rather than the antiquarian market in which his father had first been interested. In 1923, on the death of his father, he became president of both the Paris and New York interests, changing the name back to Jacques Seligmann & Cie. Seligman developed a strong interest in modern art for the New York gallery, dealing in works by

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist grou ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) 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 d ...

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808February 10, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second N ...

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Printmaking, prints ...

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

but in the face of resistance from other members of the family turned to César Mange de Hauke who had studied art in England and France and arrived in the United States in 1926. For a short period de Hauke worked as a sales representative for Seligman but the two soon decided to set up a subsidiary, de Hauke & Co., Inc., to deal in modern art. Established in 1926, the company purchased art in Paris and London for sales in the United States. Works by

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...

Odilon Redon Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French Symbolism (arts), symbolist painter, printmaker, Drawing, draughtsman and pastellist. Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, he ...

Ker-Xavier Roussel Ker-Xavier Roussel (10 December 1867 – 6 June 1944) was a French painter associated with Les Nabis. Biography Born François Xavier Roussel in Lorry-lès-Metz, Moselle in 1867, at age fifteen he studied at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris; alon ...

and

Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, he was a prominent member of the Nabis, making paintings which assembled areas of pure color, and interior s ...

were exhibited and sold in New York. Soon coverage was extended to

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...

, Jean Ingres,

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 "R ...

, and

Georges Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

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'' showcasing the painting ''

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon ''Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'' (''The Young Ladies of Avignon'', originally titled ''The Brothel of Avignon'') is a large oil painting created in 1907 by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The work, part of the permanent collection of the Museum o ...

'' which Seligman had acquired from the Jacques Doucet estate. The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

acquired the painting for $24,000 raising $18,000 toward the purchase price by selling a

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

painting and obtaining the remainder from donations by the co-owners of the gallery Germain Seligman and Cesar de Hauke.Fluegel, Jane. "Chronology". In: Pablo Picasso, Museum of Modern Art (exhibition catalog), p.309, 1980.

William Rubin William Stanley Rubin (August 11, 1927January 22, 2006) was an American art scholar, a distinguished curator, critic, collector, art historian and teacher of modern art. From 1968 to 1988, Rubin was a curator at The Museum of Modern Art located ...

(ed.). As a result of the successful new business strategy, the other family members withdrew their opposition and Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc. adopted Seligman's evolving preferences. De Hauke's company was dissolved and de Hauke returned to Paris. Seligman was a member of committee coordinating art for the New York World Fair in 1939.

Nazi looting

In the late 1930s, the Paris office came under increasing pressure as a result of political developments. Many of the assets were taken over by the

Vichy government Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

and sold at public auction. The archives were burnt by company staff to prevent confiscation by the Nazis. Seligman moved the company headquarters to New York. After the war, Seligman's efforts were concentrated on recovering artworks looted by the Nazis. There was a general family reconciliation with all working towards the interests of the company. In 1951, the Duc d'Arenberg commissioned the company to sell an important collection of illuminated manuscripts and other artworks.

Marriage

On June 6, 1946, Seligman married Ethlyne Jackson (1907-1993) of Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson, a college graduate with a degree in art history, had thirteen years’ experience at the Nelson Gallery in Kansas City: not only had she served as executive secretary to the gallery’s first director, Paul Gardner, she had been curator of the gallery's

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

collection as well as their American period rooms. In November 1942 Jackson became acting director of the gallery when Paul Gardner was commissioned as a major in the US Army, to become one of the famed Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program, Monuments Men in North Africa and Europe. Jackson was acting director for three years and a month, until Gardner's return in December 1945. After the wedding, she moved to New York City to live with her new husband.

Closure of the company

On Seligman's death in 1978, the company closed. There was recognition of the leading part he and his father had played in developing interest in art in the United States. Those who benefitted from the company's activities included a number of art collectors as well as art museums and institutions such as the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the

in New York and the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

Seligman's written works

Seligman began writing in the 1940s, publishing a monograph on

Roger de La Fresnaye Roger de La Fresnaye (; 11 July 1885 – 27 November 1925) 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 ...

in 1945 and one on The Drawings of Georges Seurat in 1947. His "Oh! Fickle Taste; or, Objectivity in Art" (1952) he traced the social changes influencing trends in American art collection. His "Merchants of Art, 1880-1960: Eighty Years of Professional Collecting" (1961) described the development of his father's business while "Roger de La Fresnaye" with a Catalogue Raisonné (1969) was included in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

list of the best ten books of the year.

Awards

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

, 1919 *

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, 1938 *

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

for his service during the First World War

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seligman, Germain American art dealers French art dealers 1893 births 1978 deaths Businesspeople from Paris People from New York (state) Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)