The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of the collection was funded by the Getty Grant Program; digitization of the collection was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
The papers of New York art dealer and consultant Stephan Bourgeois measure 4.2 linear feet and date from 1908 to circa 1964. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, personal business records and printed material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York art dealer and consultant Stephan Bourgeois measure 4.2 linear feet and date from 1908 to circa 1964. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, personal business records and printed material.
Biographical material includes an address book, biographical statement, passport, a few photographs and some miscellaneous artifacts.
Correspondence consists of Stephan Bourgeois's letters to and from museums, clients and other art dealers. There is business correspondence with lawyers and art dealers in Cologne, Germany. Alphabetical correspondence mostly dates from Stephan Bourgeois's time in New York City on the subject of art and exhibitions. There is also correspondence regarding specific paintings.
Writings consists of notebooks on artists, writings about various art subjects, research and writings on El Greco, notes on places and sociology, and finally miscellaneous notes.
Personal business records include income tax records, bills and receipts, material related to requesting compensation from the German government, and miscellaneous financial records.
The bulk of the printed material consists of exhibition catalogs from Bourgeois Galleries. There are a few articles about Stephan Bourgeois, catalogs from other galleries, and assorted clippings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1908-circa 1964 (7 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-1962 (0.6 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1910-circa 1964 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, circa 1910-circa 1964 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1915-1961 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
Biographical / Historical:
Stephan Bourgeois (1881-1964) was an art dealer, historian, writer and gallery owner based in New York City.
Stephan Bourgeois was born in 1881 in Cologne, Germany. He came from a long line of prominent art dealers and collectors. Bourgeois studied law at the University of Geneva, Switzerland and later studied art history at the University of Strasbourg in France as well as the universities of Bonn and Berlin in Germany. After his studies, he traveled extensively and then settled in Paris, France. In 1906, he began his career as an art dealer and consultant for museums and private collections.
Bourgeois immigrated to the United States in 1910 and lived in New York City. From 1911 to 1933, he was the founding director of Bourgeois Galleries. Bourgeois Galleries specialized in Old Master paintings as well as modern art, and featured artists such as Degas, Delacroix, Corot, Cezanne, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec, Albert Gleizes, Joseph Stella, Oscar Bluemner, Mario Toppi, and others.
After the gallery closed its doors in 1933, Bourgeois continued his work as an art historian, art dealer, and consultant. He lectured at numerous art institutions and universities such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia University, and New York University. Bourgeois wrote several books including Evolution of Images in Art and Two Polarities of Modern Art: Henri Rousseau and Pablo Picasso. He was especially interested in the life and art of El Greco and he organized an exhibition about him at Knoedler Gallery in 1941 and later wrote a book about the artist. Bourgeois died in 1964.
Provenance:
The Stephan Bourgeois papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1980 by Mrs. Stephan Bourgeois, widow of Bourgeois.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Genre/Form:
Business records
Photographs
Citation:
Stephan Bourgeois papers, 1908-circa 1964. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Correspondence, diaries, writings, files on publications, art works, photographs, catalogs and clippings.
Correspondence is with Yovan Radinkovitch, 1940s, and Mrs. Edward A. McGill at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1960.
Twelve diaries, 1939-1976, contain drafts of letters, clippings, lists of exhibited, sold and proposed lithographs and paintings, poems, a short autobiography, notes for books Sea Dust and A Wisconsin Story, and accounts of her travels to the Caribbean (1939), France (1956), Florida (1962), Spain (1966) and Maryland (1972). Some highlighted events are Andrus's appointment to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1952, her studies in France in 1956, as well as her living in Gloucester, 1964-1966, and Rockport, Mass. Other diary topics include Geo-metrical Art, 1957, the Rockport Art Association, and details of exhibitions throughout her career.
Writings include typescripts of The Blue Tree, Comments and Criticisms by Boardman Robinson (with related letter), Earth Foam: A Second Book of Poems, The Shining River: A Sketchbook of the Hudson (with draft), The Spirit and the Candle: El Greco and the Renaissance World (with draft); and writings about life in Gloucester and New York. Paper," (1990).
Biographical / Historical:
Lithographer, painter, author; Massachusetts and New York.
Provenance:
Donated 1990 by Lura Andrus Crowther, Andrus' sister.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
El Greco of Toledo : an international exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art : a study of its economic impact and the characteristics of its visitors, 1982 / by James A. Brunner and J. Marc De Korte
El Greco of Toledo / exhibition ... organized by the Toledo Museum of Art, with Museo del Prado, National Gallery of Art, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts ; contributions by Jonathan Brown ... [et al.]
Hommage à El Greco : 37 contemporary Hungarian works of art made in honour of the 450th anniversary of the painter's birth and essays on El Greco = 37 obras de artistas húngaros contemporaneos en ocasión del 450 aniversario del nacimiento del pintor y ensayos sobre El Greco = 37 Werke ungarischer Gegenwartskünstler anlässlich des 450. Geburtsjahres des Künstlers und Studien über El Greco / contributors, José Alvarez Lopera ... [et al.] ; edited by István Barkóczi ; [translations by Tamás Bernáth ... et al.]
The birth of western painting, a history of colour, form, and iconography, illustrated from the paintings of Mistra and mount Athos, of Giotto and Duccio, and of El Greco, by Robert Byron and David Talbot Rice; with 94 plates
El Greco and Modernism / edited by Beat Wismer and Michael Scholz-Hänsel ; [exhibition curator, Beat Wismer ; catalogue editor, Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf ; catalogue authors, Judith F. Dolkart [and others]]
