Jacques Seligmann & Co. (New York)

Jacques (Jacob) Seligmann (18 September 1858, in Frankfurt-am-Main – 30 October 1923, in Paris) was a highly successful antiquarian and art dealer with businesses in both Paris and New York. He was one of the first to foster American interest in building collections of European art.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Seligmann moved to Paris in 1874 where he worked for Paul Chevallier, an auctioneer, and Charles Mannheim, an art expert, before opening his own business on the Rue des Mathurins in 1880 with Edmond de Rothschild as one of his early clients. In 1900, together with his brothers Arnold and Simon, he established the firm Jacques Seligmann & Cie. which moved the same year to the Place Vendôme. Seligmann opened a New York office in 1904, visiting it once a year. His customers included members of the Russian Stroganoff family, the high-flying British politician Sir Philip Sassoon and American collectors such as Benjamin Altman, William Randolph Hearst, J. P. Morgan, Henry Walters, and Joseph Widener.