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Translation of a letter addressed to Monsieur E Simon by Monsieur PAJ Dagnan Bouveret dated 5th Dec 1900

Dear Simon Now that my picture "Consolatrix Afflictorum" is on the point of being shipped to Pittsburg, I should like you to transmit to Mr Frick some of my recommendations. You saw as I did, that the light in which it was hung in the Exhibition galleries, & the colour of the hangings did no suit it in any way. It is therefore important, since this picture will occupy a fixed place, & will be, so to say, part of the decoration of the building, that it should be placed in a light suitable to it, and surrounded by a colour in harmony with it. People who see this picture now that it is back in my studio, do not recognise it; so much has the coloration changed in changing places. Speaking of lighting, have you visited the Louvre since the changements have been made? Anyone can see that the Rembrandts are not recognisable as the same pictures since they have been moved. The gallery they occupy is too small, and the light badly distributed; besides which the hangings are common. Here we have chefs d'oeuvre which from a simple changement of place, no longer look like chefs d'oeuvre. This is a proof of the importance of the way of showing a picture. I do not of course know what sort of a room my picture will be placed in; I do not know even if the room is in existence as yet. What I should like would be a room about the dimensions of my studio, 8 or 9 yards by 11, with the light coming from the side, at about six to seven yards from the groundstruck out floor. A plan disposed as below:--