Jacques Seligmann

Description

Jacques Seligmann was born in 1858 in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), but emigrated to Paris in 1874. It was in the French capital where he was able to apply his knowledge of art and, together with his brother Arnold, founded “Jacques Seligmann & Cie,” a shop where they sold antiques (Marès, 2000). The success of the business led to the opening of another branch in New York. There, they came into contact with some of the wealthiest American families: John Pierpont Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, and Edmond Rothschild were among their clients (Merino de Cáceres & Martínez Ruiz, 2012). A family dispute caused the firm to split: from then on, Arnold focused on Italian art and established his own business, “Arnold Seligmann & Cie.”, which, after his marriage to Emile Rey, became known as “Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co.”; meanwhile, Jacques’ son, Germain, followed in his father’s footsteps in “Jacques Seligmann & Co. Inc.” (Marín Medina, 1988). Both businesses suffered the devastating consequences of World War II, as they were of Jewish origin and their assets were seized by the Nazis (Merino de Cáceres & Martínez Ruiz, 2012).

Bibliography

• MARÈS DEULOVOL, Frederic (2000): El mundo fascinante del coleccionismo y de las antigüedades. memorias de la vida de un coleccionista, Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Barcelona, p. 55.
• MARÍN MEDINA, José (1988): Grandes coleccionistas. Siglos XIX y XX, Edarcón, Madrid, pp. 55-56.
• MERINO DE CÁCERES, José Miguel y MARTÍNEZ RUIZ, María José (2012): La destrucción del patrimonio artístico español. W. R. Hearst “el gran acaparador", Cátedra, Madrid, pp. 237-240.