Collection Guide
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INVENTORY OF LETTERS OF BRITISH ART PATRONS, COLLECTORS,
AND DEALERS, 1821-1921
860525D
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Table of contents
Title: Letters of British art
patrons, collectors, and dealers
Date (inclusive): 1821-1921
Collection number: 860525D
Collector:
Getty
Research Library
Extent:
66 items
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688
Abstract: An assembled collection of 66 letters, written
by 47 persons between 1821 and 1921. Most letters date to the 19th century. The
letters present a view of the 19th century world of art patrons,
dealers, and collectors.
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Language: Collection
material is in English
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Library Rights and Reproductions
Letters of British art patrons, collectors, and dealers, Research
Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 860525D.
Assembled from several acquisitions, ca. 1983-1990.
Processed and cataloged by Onica Busuioceanu. The items in this
collection were formerly part of the British artists letters collection
(accession number 860525). They were separated when that collection was
cataloged.
Collection assembled by the repository.
Scope and Content of Collection
Letters present a comprehensive view of the 19th century world of art
patrons, dealers, and collectors in Great Britain. Well-informed patrons spread
the word about important collections to be sold, and of “private views” before
sales. One of the Irish antiquities dealers sends Lord Londesborough a drawing
of a unique bronze plate depicting the Crucifixion, discovered near the ruins
of a monastery. Persons who inherited pictures try to sell or donate them.
Collectors and art patrons order reproductive prints from the well-known dealer
Dominic Colnaghi. Some are actively involved with their dealers: the Baron
Berwick asks his to try and sell either "the doubtful Sebastian or Titian,"
which "should not be in the same room" nor shown together. Booksellers have
their place in the growing art market, offering not only rare books, but also
colored sets of John Paine tracts. The book collector and connoisseur Felix
Slade comments on the "fine specimens" in his loan exhibition of rare books and
bindings.
Arrangement
Letters arranged alphabetically.
Art dealers—Great
Britain—Correspondence
Art patrons—Great
Britain—Correspondence
Collectors and
collecting—Great Britain