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INVENTORY OF THE HEIM GALLERY RECORDS,
1965-1991
910004
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Table of contents
Title: Heim Gallery records
Date (inclusive): 1965-1991
Collection number: 910004
Creator:
Heim
Gallery
Extent:
ca. 120 lin.
ft.
(271 boxes)
Repository:
Getty Research Institute
Research Library
Special Collections and Visual Resources
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90049-1688
Abstract: London gallery directed
by Andrew Ciechanowieck. Records include extensive correspondence with museums, galleries, collectors, and other colleagues
in Europe and the United States. Photographs document paintings, drawings, sculptures, and decorative art sold and exhibited
by, and offered to the gallery. Stock and financial records trace acquisitions and sales.
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Language: Collection material in
English
Open for use by qualified researchers.
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Library Rights and Reproductions
Heim Gallery records, 1965-1991, Research Library, The Getty
Research Institute, Accession number 910004
Processing was begun in 1992, then revived in 1996 by Jocelyn Gibbs,
who processed most of the collection and nearly completed writing this finding
aid. The finding aid was completed and the collection was fully processed in
2006 by Isabella Zuralski.
Four publications, including three exhibition catalogs and 1 sales
catalog, have been transferred to the Getty Research Institute's Research
Library.
Joan Miró 15 litografias originales : "Homenatge a Joan Prats".
Madrid : Galeria Vandrés, 1972.
Durand paintings 1971-1981 : Edinburgh Festival : August
10th-September 5th, 1981. [Edinburgh] : University of Edinburgh,
[1981]
Les publications de la Réunion des musées nationaux 1984. Paris :
Réunion des musées nationaux, Service des publications, [1984]
Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux : catalogue 1985.
Paris : Réunion des musées nationaux, [1985]
Heim Gallery London began in June 1966 with François Heim (from
Galerie Heim, Paris, begun 1954) and Andrew S. Ciechanowiecki as partners.
Ciechanowiecki served as director in London while Heim remained in France.
The
emphasis of the gallery was Old Master paintings, especially French of the 15th
- 18th century, Italian paintings of all periods, and sculpture (marble,
terracotta and bronze) from the Renaissance to the 19th century. The gallery was
known for its scholarly
exhibitions and catalogs. Between 1966 and 1989 the gallery presented exhibitions two to three times a year.
The gallery did business with museums and individual clients in Europe
and the United States. Ciechanowiecki helped build two significant private
collections in the United States, the terracotta sculpture collection of Arthur
Sackler (a portion of which is now at the National Gallery in Washington), and
the Ian Ross collection of 19th century French sculpture.
Heim Gallery also did business under other names: Old Masters
(Paintings and Sculptures) Ltd. was created, apparently, as an internal device
for tax purposes and had by 1986 as its sole directors, Ciechanowiecki and John
Pomian, also sole directors of Heim Gallery at this time. (Francois Heim
resigned as a director around 1986.) The two entities existed concurrently in
different premises.
In October 1986, the Heim Gallery premises were leased to Richard
Herner, owner of Swiftdene Ltd., and the corporate names exchanged: Herner was
to use Heim Gallery, and Ciechanowiecki and John Pomian took on the name
Swiftdene Ltd. Swiftdene and Old Masters shared premises at 67/68 Jermyn
Street. At this point, Old Masters was still wholly owned by Ciechanowiecki and
Pomian, with Swiftdene controlled by a Swiss company. Swiftdene ceased trading 30 September 1989 and its stock was purchased
by Old
Masters.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Heim Gallery Records document the business of the gallery, its
cultivation of clients in Europe and the United States, and the production of
its scholarly exhibitions especially for the period between 1966 and 1988.
Correspondence with museums, individual clients and suppliers, and experts
comprise the greater part of the collection. Photographs of art works, index
files, stock books and other financial papers, research files and publicity
files make up the rest of the archive.
The correspondence series contains letters received and the gallery's
copies (green copies and daily files) of letters sent. Letters reflect the
gallery's offers to museums and individual collectors, curators' requests for
works for their collections or for assistance in finding works needed for
exhibitions. Many of the letters reveal Andrew S. Ciechanowiecki's wit and
warmth as he offers advice to young curators and spreads art world news among
his colleagues and friends. The letters also document business strategies -
offers to lend works to museums and collectors sometimes result in sales - and
Ciechanowiecki's collaborations with museums and his solid scholarly
contributions to exhibitions. The letters reveal his close personal association
with Poland and its artistic patrimony and royalty. His fascination with class
and position in England, and the royal family, are displayed in the publicity
clippings and photographs of openings at the gallery.
Until 1986, Ciechanowiecki sent regular bulletins to Francois Heim,
reporting in narrative form the current activities of the gallery: offers made,
works seen, travels, transactions. Ciechanowiecki's diaries also record in
abbreviated form meetings with clients, travels, and other activities on behalf
of the gallery. There are no personal papers in the archive.
Photographs of art works are organized by medium: paintings, drawings,
sculpture, and furniture and decorative arts, and represent works sold, with
additional images of items before restoration, and art works documented for
research or commercial reasons. Research notes, drafts of didactic text,
printed brochures and photographs illustrate the production of exhibitions at
the Heim gallery.
Research files contain notes, photographs, and printed material,
organized by artist, school or medium. Offers made to the gallery are
documented with photographs and some research notes. Many of these offers
represent works rejected by the gallery. Financial records include stockbooks,
ledgers and cash books, as well as invoices, paid bills, and documents related
to shipping and taxes. Financial records do not appear to be complete, but include records from Heim, Old Masters, and
Swiftdene. Gallery
publicity is documented through clippings, guest books, and photographs that
show members of royalty attending exhibits at the gallery.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in eight series:
Series
I. Correspondence, 1965-1990, undated
;
Series
II. Index cards, ca. 1965-1991
;
Series
III. Photographs, ca. 1965-1991, undated
;
Series
IV. Research files, 1966-1991, undated
;
Series
V. Financial, 1965-1989, undated
;
Series
VI. Gallery publicity, undated
;
Series
VII. Andrew S. Ciechanowieki personal files, 1966-1975, undated
.
Ciechanowieki, Andrzej
S., 1924-
Galerie Heim
Heim Gallery
Old Masters (Painting and
Sculptures) Ltd.
Art—Collectors and
collecting
Art—Catalogs
Art dealers
Art
dealers—England—London
Drawing, French
Drawing, Italian
Painting, Baroque
Painting,
Baroque—Italy
Sculpture
Sculpture,
Baroque
Sculpture,
Baroque—France
Sculpture,
Baroque—Italy
Sculpture, French
Sculpture,
Renaissance
Bronze sculpture
Bronze
sculpture—France
Bronze sculpture,
Renaissance
Bettagno,
Alessandro
Briganti,
Giuliano
Haskell, Francis,
1928-
Held, Julius Samuel,
1905-
Honour, Hugh
Montagu,
Jennifer
Pope-Hennessy, John
Wyndham, Sir, 1913-
Rosenblum,
Robert
Wittkower,
Rudolf
Middledorf, Ulrich
Alexander, 1901
Old Masters (Painting and
Sculptures) Ltd.
P. & D. Colnaghi
& Co.