General Correspondence

The material in this series was found scattered across the archive and was brought together during the cataloguing process. It comprises:

-correspondence M. Knoedler & Co. exchanged with external individuals and organisations which cannot be easily assigned to other series because it covers multiple subjects, or is of a very general nature

-accompanying documentation, such as black and white photographs, notes, lists, and published materials

It has been arranged as follows:

-alphabetically by the name of the individual, or the organisation for which they worked

-files for named individuals or organisations contain six or more letters exchanged with Knoedler's

-miscellaneous files contain correspondence for those individuals or organisations who exchanged less than six letters with Knoedler's

-where it has been possible to do so, the full names of individuals, their known life span, and a brief description of their activities have been given in the catalogue descriptions. This information has been obtained from Wikipedia and the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF).

Although this material is less focussed in content than that found in the other series associated with M. Knoedler & Co., it demonstrates some of the activities staff undertook in the course of their work, as well as revealing the various professional connections they had with other dealers, museums and galleries, and experts in the art world. It also includes a small amount of correspondence exchanged between other organisations and it is not known how or why it came into Knoedler's possession.

Open for research. Readers must fill in an 'Reader Agreement Form' which outlines the reading room rules and conditions concerning privacy and Data Protection

The material in this series was created and compiled by Knoedler's staff, mainly by Letitia Simpson and Frank Simpson, in their respective roles of Librarian, although there are some letters to and from staff at Knoedler's Paris and New York offices.

Some of the correspondence dates to the period before Letitia Simpson had established her role as Librarian, and the correspondees who worked at Knoedler's at this time include Charles Carstairs, Carroll Carstairs (as they were both sometimes referred to as C. Carstairs it is difficult to distinguish between the two), Mr Heseltine, and Freddie Menzies. From the 1920s-1930s until the late 1950s, Letitia Simpson appears to have been a major point of contact for the London office. Many of those with whom she corresponded requested her advice about the attribution of artists and works of art, and several did so repeatedly over a long period of time. Simpson's correspondence dates from the late 1950s-1971 and although he continued to respond to requests for pedigree information about works of art, it is more focussed on the research of collectors and collections.