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Jacques Seligmann & Cie.

Jacques Seligmann & Cie.

Jacques Seligmann & Cie. was an art and antiquities dealership first established in 1880 on the rue des Mathurins in Paris by Jacques Seligmann (1858–1923), a German émigré who had come to France in 1874. In 1900, a larger Galerie Seligmann was opened at 23, Place Vendôme, and Jacques Seligmann’s two brothers, Simon and Arnold, joined the business as partners. A New York City branch of the business was opened at 7 West 36th Street in 1904. In 1909, Jacques Seligmann purchased the Hôtel de Sagan in Paris to hold larger exhibitions. In 1912, a family quarrel resulted in a lawsuit that split the company. Arnold Seligmann remained at the Place Vendôme location, reorganized under the name Arnold Seligmann & Cie., while Jacques Seligmann remained at the Hôtel de Sagan location and opened an additional gallery at 17, Place Vendôme to retain a presence near the company’s original location. This branch later relocated to 9, rue de la Paix. He also moved his New York gallery, first to 705 Fifth Avenue and later to 3 East 51st Street and later still to 5 East 57th Street. Jacques Seligmann’s nephew, René Seligmann (ca. 1892–1940), and his son, Germain Seligmann (1893–1978), who in 1943 changed the spelling of his name to Seligman, worked in the firm’s galleries. Germain Seligmann became a partner in 1920, the year the firm changed its name to Jacques Seligmann et Fils, and he became the president of the New York office. Upon his father’s death in 1923, Germain Seligmann became president of both the Paris and New York offices, and the company was again renamed Jacques Seligmann & Cie. About 1937, the Hôtel de Sagan location was sold, and the Paris office reestablished itself at 9, rue de la Paix. However, the New York office was chosen as the headquarters for Jacques Seligmann & Co. In 1940, the Seligmann Paris gallery and holdings were seized by the Vichy government and sold at public auction. Eventually reopened, the Paris gallery closed permanently in 1978 with the death of Germain Seligman.