Letter from Alice Creelman to Henry Clay Frick, 7 December 1915
Scripto
Transcription
DEC 10 1915
FORWARDED from NY
REFERRED
ANSWERED
131 EAST SIXTY-SIXTH STREET
Dear Mr. Frick:
I send herewith the thirteen primitives (photographs) belonging to Sir Martin Conway (late professor of art, Cambridge University)
The two Giorgiones are wonderful, and finer than any here and of the earliest period. The color of both is said to be marvellous and very typical. They are irreproachable in genuineness and are known to best collectors. These two canvasses are worth the price the owner has placed on all the collection together if we consider the price Mr. Altman paid for his much questioned
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Giorgione. These have great charm and beauty, and are really great bargains.
The Lotto and the Fappa also are very rare and very valuable, as well as beautiful and characteristic. Every one of these pictures is unquestioned and make a beautiful whole group.
Sir Martin Conway has these in his home, Allington Castle. They have never been on the market and are not offered now. Mrs. Hind sought him and persuaded him to part with them. He is not a business man nor a dealer and when he said he would take $250,000 for the thirteen he said he was
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afraid he was not asking what he could get but if he could get that sum he would take it.
I would not urge you of course, but I know this is an opportunity to obtain a group of the rarest masters at a bargain. I am afraid if a competition sets up we shall lose the chance. It is all very quiet now, no one knows that he could be induced to sell them, and I do hope you will acquire them. I could not bear to see the Giorgiones especially go elsewhere. We could never find such a charming pair of such an early period with such quaint and brilliant color again, to say nothing of all the others
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each of which is a gem. I have cabled asking for a shading in the price but the owner says he should have asked more in the first place but will keep to it.
With kind regard
Very sincerely
Alice B. Creelman
December 7, 1915.
FORWARDED from NY
REFERRED
ANSWERED
131 EAST SIXTY-SIXTH STREET
Dear Mr. Frick:
I send herewith the thirteen primitives (photographs) belonging to Sir Martin Conway (late professor of art, Cambridge University)
The two Giorgiones are wonderful, and finer than any here and of the earliest period. The color of both is said to be marvellous and very typical. They are irreproachable in genuineness and are known to best collectors. These two canvasses are worth the price the owner has placed on all the collection together if we consider the price Mr. Altman paid for his much questioned
[end of page 1]
[beginning of page 2]
Giorgione. These have great charm and beauty, and are really great bargains.
The Lotto and the Fappa also are very rare and very valuable, as well as beautiful and characteristic. Every one of these pictures is unquestioned and make a beautiful whole group.
Sir Martin Conway has these in his home, Allington Castle. They have never been on the market and are not offered now. Mrs. Hind sought him and persuaded him to part with them. He is not a business man nor a dealer and when he said he would take $250,000 for the thirteen he said he was
[end of page 2]
[beginning of page 3]
afraid he was not asking what he could get but if he could get that sum he would take it.
I would not urge you of course, but I know this is an opportunity to obtain a group of the rarest masters at a bargain. I am afraid if a competition sets up we shall lose the chance. It is all very quiet now, no one knows that he could be induced to sell them, and I do hope you will acquire them. I could not bear to see the Giorgiones especially go elsewhere. We could never find such a charming pair of such an early period with such quaint and brilliant color again, to say nothing of all the others
[end of page 3]
[beginning of page 4]
each of which is a gem. I have cabled asking for a shading in the price but the owner says he should have asked more in the first place but will keep to it.
With kind regard
Very sincerely
Alice B. Creelman
December 7, 1915.
Status
To transcribe
Percent Completed
100
Weight
100100
Files
Collection
Citation
“Letter from Alice Creelman to Henry Clay Frick, 7 December 1915,” Transcribe Frick, accessed May 3, 2024, https://transcribe.frick.org/index.php/items/show/188.