Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Vollard (Ambroise) Miscellaneous papers regarding
2001.M.24
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Miscellaneous papers regarding Ambroise Vollard
Creator:
Getty Research Institute
Creator:
Monfreid, Daniel de, 1856-1929
Creator:
Vuillard, Édouard, 1868-1940
Creator:
Vollard, Ambroise, 1867-1939
Creator:
Steinlen, Théophile Alexandre, 1859-1923
Creator:
Getty Research Institute. Research Library
Identifier/Call Number: 2001.M.24
Physical Description:
6 Linear Feet
(11 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1890-1939 (bulk 1890-1910)
Date (bulk): 1890-1910
Abstract: Collection comprises original and photocopied letters and records related to the French art dealer Ambroise Vollard and the
artists he represented.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
Collection comprises original and photocopied letters and records related to the art dealer Ambroise Vollard and the artists
he represented. Also included are transcriptions of photocopied materials.
Included are: 83 items of correspondence, 3 documents, 18 b&w photographs, 12 publications, 1 sketchbook, 2 watercolors, and
1 lithograph. The photocopies of stockbooks, account books, and correspondence, were made from original materials, some of
which are now in the Musee D'Orsay. The transcriptions were made by Gerrard White from the photocopies.
Correspondence centers on artists Paul Gauguin, Georges Rouault, Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen,
Daniel de Monfreid, Henri Gabriel Ibels, and Maurice Denis; prominent critics such as Felix Feneon, Roger Marx, Andre Mellerio,
Gabriel Mourey, and Jules Laforgue; dealers such as Vollard, Edouard Kleinmann, and Durand Ruel; collectors such as Chaudet,
Gabriel Frizeau, and Alexandre Natanson; publishers such as Floury and Marty; and the print dealer André Clot.
This collection was assembled by Gerrard White from various sources including Maurice Malingue, the family of André Mellerio,
Baron Denys Cochin, the heirs of André Clot, John Rewald, and Louis Sébastien, heir of antiquarian Edouard Jonas.
Arranged in 6 series: Series I. Correspondence concerning Paul Gauguin, 1897-1917; Series II. Other correspondence, 1891-1939;
Series III. Correspondence regarding Vollard's painters and the art market, 1887-1924; Series IV. Ambroise Vollard dealer's
records and related records in other repositories, ca. 1894-1935; Series V. Catalogues, monographs and exhibition documentation;
Series VI. Research file.
Biographical / Historical Note
Ambroise Vollard, the pioneer French art dealer, patron and publisher, can be said to be the first of the 'modern' art dealers.
Malcolm Gee calls Vollard the "most notable contemporary art dealer of his generation in France." Born 1867 in Réunion, he
moved to Paris to study law in 1890 and soon began buying and selling prints and drawings. After working at L'Union Artistique
for Alphonse Dumas, Vollard set up his own business and in 1894 opened a gallery near the Opéra on the Rue Laffitte, then
the center of the Paris art business.
Vollard organized Cézanne's first one-man exhibit and, as was his habit, bought works directly from the artist, building a
collection of enormous value. He also bought work from van Gogh, Gauguin, Bonnard, Denis, Redon, Vuillard, Derain, Rouault,
Vlaminck, Rousseau, Picasso, Maillol, and Matisse, often holding back the work for years to take advantage of rising prices.
Vollard is also known for his print publishing business (1890s through 1900) and for establishing the genre of the illustrated
art book (livre d'artiste). After 1915 Vollard launched over 40 publishing projects with artists, many of which were incomplete
when he died in 1939. Vollard wrote several books on artists (Cézanne, Renoir, Degas, among them) as well as his memoir, published
in English with the title
Recollections of a Picture Dealer (1936, 1978).
Processed by J. Gibbs and Lily Tsukahira.
The collection was assembled from various sources by Gerrard White, who also made the transcriptions in the collection. Acquired
by the Getty Research Library in 2004.
Miscellaneous papers regarding Ambroise Vollard, 1890-1939, bulk 1890-1910, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession
no. 2001.M.24.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2001m24
Open for use by qualified researchers with the following exceptions. The Jaz drive in Box 11 containing Gerrard White's inventory
and transcriptions is sealed. However, a paper hard copy of the documents is available for read-only access in Box 12 and
Box 13; it may not be photocopied or digitally copied in whole or in part.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Correspondence
Art -- Marketing -- History
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- History
Photographic prints
Prints
Photographs, Original
Artists -- France -- Paris
Art dealers -- France -- Paris
Collectors and collecting -- France -- History
Artists' illustrated books
Mellerio, André, 1862-1943
Laforgue, Jules, 1860-1887
Marty, Andre
Galerie Vollard
Natanson, Alexandre, 1867-1936
Marx, Roger, 1859-1913
Rouault, Georges, 1871-1958
Mourey, Gabriel, 1865-1943
Steinlen, Théophile Alexandre, 1859-1923
Bonnard, Pierre, 1867-1947
Vollard, Ambroise, 1867-1939
Monfreid, Daniel de, 1856-1929
Floury, Henri, 1862-1961
Denis, Maurice, 1870-1943
Galerie Durand-Ruel
Clot, André
Fénéon, Félix, 1861-1944
Frizeau, Gabriel
Kleinmann, Edouard
Ibels, Henri-Gabriel, 1867-1936
Gauguin, Paul, 1848-1903