Sidney Geist correspondence

Bibliography

The Sidney Geist correspondence consists of Sidney Geist's (SG) correspondence related to his research on Constantin Brancusi (CB), Guillaume Apollinaire, Andre Derain, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and others spanning from 1963 - 1968. The majority of the correspondence is incoming consisting of replies to SG's requests to owners of CB works. Topics covered include measurements, signature, foundry stamps, provenance and other historical information. All correspondence regarding CB is arranged alphabetically by author. In some instances, letters written by SG were returned with the reply correspondence. SG contacted museums, galleries and private collectors in multiple countries, including Romania, CB's home country. A few of the responses enclose rubbings of the signature or foundry marks from the artwork in question.

SG also attempted to contact the subjects of CB works, such as Mlle. Pogany (MP), or their surviving family members. MP died prior to receiving the letter, and her great-nephew Andrew Forgas responded on the family's behalf. Katharine Graham's (KG) mother knew CB, and KG relates to SG how the portrait of her mother came to be along with other interesting reminisces.

Additionally, SG communicated with those who had known or met CB such as Marcel Duchamp (MD), Jeanne Robert Foster (JRF), Barnet Hodes (BH) and Elizabeth Olds (EO). Along with giving his own account of the provenance of some CB works, MD assisted SG in contacting other people who had information. JRF met CB while assisting an art collector, and muses over the meaning of "Bird in Flight" in one of her letters to SG. She also includes a poem she wrote upon hearing of CB's death. BH was an attorney from Chicago, and purported to have discussed with CB the creation of a gigantic version of "Endless Column" as a monument that would become a recognizable symbol of Chicago. EO was an American artist who was encouraged by Ezra Pound to meet CB during her tour of Europe in the late 1920s. She did, and in her letter she discusses her experience.

SG also wrote to other scholars including Meyer Schapiro, Mircea Eliade, Lincoln Kirstein and Werner Schmalenbach (WS). In his letter, WS opines on the meeting between CB and German painter Julius Bissier.

An interesting tidbit in the general folder of this collection is a letter from an image duplication company in Florence, Italy written immediately after the flood of 1966. It describes how they cannot process SG's order at that time because the flood "annihilated" their shop. A letter less than a month later informs SG that they have been able to resume their business.