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Galerie Vollard Archive

Welcome to the most extensive resource for the study and comprehension of the records of Galerie Ambroise Vollard. This research project is ongoing and is expected to complete in 2021.

Ambroise Vollard (b.1866 – d.1939) was one of the most important French art dealers of contemporary art of his age. He was an instrumental figure in the support of then unknown artists that have since become some of the most significant figures in French Impressionist & Modern Art.

There is a lot of myth surrounding the archive records of Ambroise Vollard and his sale and promotion of the artists he chose to sell.

Over the years bits of Vollard's archives have found their way into various institutions; Musee d'Orsay, The Getty, The Wildenstein Plattner Institute and also scholars archives. The various institutions have some records privately held and others are open to study. All suffer from different cataloguing systems put in place by those who are not studying all of the information contextually or holistically. Therefore, folders and boxes have been mislabelled or the contents wrongly assumed for decades. 'Spot' checks performed by professional provenance researchers are pretty much impossible to conduct with any level of certainty. When people have tried, they often only have access to limited information and cannot 'see' the larger context.

Therefore, to straighten out the art historical record and for the protection of our clients artworks we needed to pull together as many of these records into one location and study every part, to see exactly what records exist and which do not. Due to the scattered nature of these records the only way to really 'see' what was recorded was to build a large database / recalibrated stock book that contains the following information:

Every recorded comment on artworks by the significant artists that we research. This encompassed tracking and deciphering:

Every stock book number referenced Every identifiable artwork title and dimension Every incoming amount of money related to artworks Every outgoing amount of money related to artworks Every recorded shipment to clients Every insurance related document Every recorded artwork loaned to exhibitions Every artwork 'shared / co-owned' by Vollard and his business partners. Artworks returned to the Galerie following Vollard's sudden death in 1939. Any photographic references (photo plate negatives) on the artworks.

We recorded the data in chronological order to identify the missing fragments of time. We recorded where each bit of information recorded came from in the original source documentation and code linked each bit of archival material used into the database. Sometimes we needed to take data from 3 or 4 archival sources to build a complete 'stock book entry'.

The aim of the work is to build the most comprehensive resource for the study of Vollard's stock.

We built this resource so researchers, curators, art collectors & art lawyers can obtain an impartial, clear, concise and timely answer to difficult questions about the provenance of artworks Vollard traded.

Database / Stock Book Format:

Our Database / Stock Book is formatted to match Vollard's Stock Book format and also includes the source material used to find the information and our notes:

Stock no.

Date of input

Provenance

Artist

Artwork title

Buying price

Date of release

Buying client

Price paid

Original material source code

Notes

Artists Researched

Galerie Vollard's artists that are of major focus are:

Paul Cezanne Edgar Degas Paul Gauguin Camille Pissarro Albert Marquet Othon Frieze Henri Matisse

Toulouse-Lautrec Berthe Morizot Odilon Redon Pierre Auguste Renoir Pablo Picasso Edward Manet Andre Derain

Vincent Van Gogh Claude Monet Georges Rouault Pierre Bonnard Maurice de Vlaminck Henri Manguin Alfred Sisley

Findings So Far:

The years the database / stock book covers are: 1894 – 1940. The previously assumed chronological gaps, overlaps and contradictions mentioned by past scholars appear to be less fragmentary and contradictory than thought.

There were at least 4 (possibly 5) 'stock books' that were used by Vollard (this is reflected in the manner in which Vollard's stock numbers are recorded and also how stock books are noted by scholars).

To further complicate things – Vollard does not always own the artworks that were given stock numbers. For example; in 1900 the painting(s) loaned by Vollard to the Exposition Universelle, Grand Palais, Paris, Centennale de l'Art français, 1800–1899, April 15–October 15, 1900 were not owned by him at this point. However, they were still issued with stock numbers.

When Vollard re-purchased artworks from collectors he had originally sold works to, he changed / re-allocated a new stock number to the artwork.

When we consolidated all the data it appears that the group of stock books cover the following years: 1894 – 1939.

The stock numbers that are prefixed with: 'c. no.' / 'c.fo no.' / 'T.V.no.' and show artworks from Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Pissarro, and Monet...recorded in the period from c. April 1895 – c.March 1896. After this period no prefixes appear before the stock numbers. It is presently unclear why these prefixes are used, further study is ongoing.

'Stock Book A' covers the period c.1894 – c. July 1904 The earliest data presently available that relates to non-prefixed stock numbers are shown to have been established before March 1896:

The last recorded stock number from Stock Book 'A' we presently have recorded is no. 4368, we expect to clarify final numbers in 2021.

The stock numbers c. 4201 are recorded as 'date of input' at the end of April 1904

There are many instances where Vollard re-numbers stock from Stock Book A into Stock Book B.

'Stock Book B' covers the period possibly from 13 March 1903 and definitely Before April 22 1904 – to June 24 1912 (entry of stock no 4113). Not June 1904 – December 1907, which has been recorded previously by scholars in the past.

Our data shows that stock book 'B' numbers climbed into the 5000's and are NOT the same artworks that are part of 'Rewald's virtual Stock Book 'X'.

'Stock Book X' – this is a 'virtual' stock book ' (so named by John Rewald and the Cezanne Catalogue Raisonne team) created from Vollard's 'Agendas 1912' is full of inaccuracies. With some of the stock numbers actually dating from before January 2 1908 (stock no. 5000 was sold on this date) it illustrates clearly that Stock Book 'X' does not represent artworks originating only in '1912'. The last inputs for the stock no. running up to no.5500 were made it appears in the spring of 1913. The last outgoing artwork from this stock book that is recorded was a Picasso on the 23 June 1914.

1914-1918 The years of the 1st World War appear to be not covered by any specific stock book, but our analysis of this is ongoing. Vollard was however trading during these years and we have been able to piece together this trade of incoming and outgoing stock using other archive materials from within the Vollard Archive and from correspondences gathered externally from it.

'Stock Book C' (ca. March 1918–ca. 1922): Inventory numbers 7016–7609. The information gained so far shows us more outputs – works transferred out of the Vollard's stock rather than the inputs of new stock. These outputs start in March 1918, this would indicate that the stock numbers entered into Vollard's Stock potentially pre-1918, we are presently combining the data from Stock Book C with other materials including the Inventory list from 1922, further analysis is ongoing.

'Stock Book W' (so named by John Rewald and the Cezanne Catalogue Raisonne team) (January 1, 1922–January 5, 1938): Inventory numbers 1–5745 presently the numbers of outputs (stock leaving the gallery) continue to 29 June 1939, further study is ongoing.

This appears to be the first time this has been clarified; past scholars appear to have been inaccurate with the manner in which they have recorded the dates covered by the stock books. Therefore, it has been assumed that a number of years of stock book entries have been 'missing' or presumed to be 'patchy,' close analysis of the data appears to show Vollard's records are not as patchy as previously thought.

Vollard's close network of dealers and agents are now apparent and what, when and how they traded artworks. We also have records from many of his network of dealers and therefore for can compare Vollard's records directly with his business partners for example:

Heinrich & Justin Thannhauser – Moderne Galerie Thannhauser (Munich, Berlin, Luzern & New York) Jos Hessel, Paris Paul & Leonce Rosenberg - Galerie Rosenberg (Paris & New York) Jacques Seligmann – Galerie Seligmann (Paris & New York) Galerie Durand-Ruel Paris Galerie Bernheim-Jeune Paris Alex Reid & Lefevre Galerie Bignou (Paris & New York)

Our Database / Stock Book also incorporates data we have gathered and continue to gather from different Institutional and Arts Club Archives that had received correspondence from Vollard. This largely relates to loans of artworks for exhibitions, artworks incoming directly from Artists, sales invoices to private collectors and exchanges / part-share sales of artworks with his partner Dealers and Agents.

The works of Cezanne that passed through Vollard's hands have been completely logged into the database. We were able to clarify when identified artworks had sold and to whom that had previously not been proven by the Cezanne Catalogue Raisonne researchers.

Our work with Vollard continues to grow as we encounter more letters and documents related to his business found in the institutions and other dealer records we continue to recover from the pre-1940 period. However, for now we are confident we have so far gathered together the most data held on Galerie Vollard in one location.

For further information on Galerie Vollard database / stock book 1894-1940 please contact us with your enquiry.