Charles Sedelmeyer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Charles Sedelmeyer (30 April 1837,
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
– 9 August 1925,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was an Austrian and French art dealer, collector, and publisher active in Paris from 1866, with premises at 6 rue de la Rochefoucauld. He is credited with popularising the Dutch artist
Jan van Goyen Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapes, marine paintings, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscap ...
in France. Sedelmeyer assessed the American market as important enough to send his
Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...
''Atalanta and Meleager'' from the Marlborough collection for exhibition at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
in the winter of 1886.


Mihály Munkácsy

Though specialized in old masters, Sedemeyer became friends with the artist
Mihály Munkácsy Mihály Munkácsy (20 February 1844 – 1 May 1900) was a Hungarian painter. He earned international reputation with his genre pictures and large-scale biblical paintings. Early years Munkácsy was born as ''Mihály Leó Lieb'' () to Mi ...
, who lived in Paris from 1872 onwards. Sedelmeyer bought and sold Mihaly Munkácsy's 1878 ''The Blind Milton Dictating
Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...
to his Daughters,'' and after doing so offered Munkácsy a ten-year contract, making that painter a wealthy man and a really established member of the Paris art world. Sedelmeyer wanted him to paint large-scale pictures which could be exhibited on their own. They decided that a subject taken from the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
would be most suitable. In 1882 Munkácsy painted ''Christ before Pilate'' which was followed by ''Golgotha'' in 1884. The trilogy was completed by ''
Ecce Homo ''Ecce homo'' (, , ; "behold the man") are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the Gospel of John, when he presents a scourged Jesus, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his crucif ...
'' in 1896. These huge paintings were taken on a tour and exhibited in many European cities and also in the US. All three were bought by
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
millionaire
John Wanamaker John Wanamaker (July 11, 1838December 12, 1922) was an American merchant and religious, civic and political figure, considered by some to be a proponent of advertising and a "pioneer in marketing". He served as United States Postmaster General ...
.


Rembrandt

A public dispute with Dr.
Abraham Bredius Abraham Bredius (18 April 1855 – 13 March 1946) was a Dutch art collector, art historian, and museum curator. Life Bredius travelled widely, visiting various art collections in his youth, and worked at the Dutch Museum for History and Art be ...
over the attribution to
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
of the ''Woman Taken in Adultery'' sold by Sedelmeyer to the Weber collection resulted in Sedelmeyer's justificatory pamphlet, 1912."On The Woman Taken in Adultery of the Weber Collection", ''
The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation si ...
'', 22 No. 119 (February 1913:287).
The painting was shown in New York City at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
and the attribution was confirmed by Wilhelm Valentiner. The Rembrandt attribution was again confirmed by
Hofstede de Groot Hofstede de Groot is a Dutch surname. Notable people with this surname include: * Petrus Hofstede de Groot (1802–1886), Dutch theologian * Cornelis Hofstede de Groot Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (9 November 1863 – 14 April 1930), was a Dutch ...
in 1914, who noted that it was purchased from Sedelmeyer by T. B. Walker. The painting was deaccessioned by the
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...
in 2011.


Frans Hals

A small Hals sketch of a man from his "wet on wet" traveller series is dated 1643 and surprised Hals expert Seymour Slive for having a date, as most of these small portrait sketches were lacking them. He noticed that it had been in the possession of Sedelmeyer and Munkácsy and remarked that though Hals was very popular among the late 19th-century artists, this was the only painting that had been actually owned by one, as far as he knew.Catalog record 151, Slive catalogue raisonné of Hals paintings, 1974 He speculated that he would not be surprised if it came to pass that copies by Munkácsy were discovered of Dutch 17th-century realists, since he seemed to acquire so much inspiration from them. Slive also noted that Sedelmeyer sold "dozens of paintings rightly and wrongly attributed to Hals".


Personal life

He had five daughters. Emilie married the sculptor and art historian Stanislas Lami and Hermina married the Czech painter
Václav Brožík Václav Brožík (; 6 March 1851 – 15 April 1901) was a Czech painter who worked in the academic style. Life Brožík was born on 6 March 1851 in Třemošná, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now the Czech Republic). He came from a poor family, ...
. Sedelmeyer's collection was dispersed at a series of sales in Paris.


Works

*''Catalogue of the celebrated Collection of Paintings, by Modern and Old Masters, and of Water-Colours and Drawings, formed by M. E. Secretan, sold at Sedelmeyer's Galleries, Paris, July, 1889'' *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1894 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the second Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1895 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the third Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1896 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the fourth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1897 * Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated catalogue of 300 paintings by old masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English schools, being some of the principal pictures which have at various times formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery'', 1898 Illustrated catalogue of 300 paintings by old masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English schools, being some of the principal pictures which have at various times formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery
on archive.org
*Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the fifth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1899 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the sixth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1900 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the seventh Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1901 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the eighth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1902 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the ninth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1905 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the tenth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1906 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the eleventh Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1911 *Charles Sedelmeyer, ''Illustrated Catalogue of the twelfth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French and English Schools'', Paris 1913


Notes


Sources

* B. Wild, ‘Charles Sedelmeyer: Ein österreichischer Kunsthändler macht Karriere in Paris’, Parnass 14, no. 3 (1994), pp. 76–80 (cite
here
* C. Huemer, 'Charles Sedelmeyer (1837–1925): Kunst und Spekulation am Kunstmarkt in Paris', Belvedere: Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 2 (Fall 1999), pp. 4–19. * C. Huemer, 'Charles Sedelmeyer's Theatricality: Art and Speculation in Late 19th-Century Paris', Ján Bakoš (ed.) Artwork through the Market: The Past and the Present, Bratislava: Slowakische Academy of Sciences 2004, pp. 109–124. * M. Theinhardtová, ‘Charles Sedelmeyer a Václav Brozík, cesky malír historie v Parízi’ (Charles Sedelmeyer and Václav Brozík; a Czech painter of history in Paris), in Václav Brozík (1851–1901), Národní galerie v Praze. Valdstejnská jízdárna (Prague, 2003), pp. 111–29. * C. Huemer, 'Crossing Thresholds: The Hybrid Identity of Late Nineteenth-Century Art Dealers', Jaynie Anderson (ed.) Crossing Cultures: Conflict-Migration-Convergence, Melbourne: Miegunyah Press 2009, pp. 1007–1011.


External links


Collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings by old masters, owned by Mr. Charles Sedelmeyer
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1886 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedelmayer, Charles Emigrants from the Austrian Empire Immigrants to France Businesspeople from the Austrian Empire Historians from the Austrian Empire Austrian art collectors Austrian art dealers Austrian art historians Writers from Vienna 1837 births 1925 deaths Burials at Montmartre Cemetery