This collection of glass negatives, photographs, and tearsheets was assembled by art dealers Siegfried and Walter Laemmle in the course of pursuing business in Munich and Los Angeles. Almost all of the glass negatives and many of the prints record objects that passed through Siegfried Laemmle's Munich shops (first on Karlstrasse, later on Lenbachplatz and Briennerstrasse) over a 40 year period. Laemmle's business ranked with those of the most prominent dealers in Germany and the images document the art market in Germany before World War II. Most of the works depicted are late medieval and early Renaissance sculptures, including several by Tilman Riemenschneider. There are also several interior views of the Munich shops showing art objects offered for sale. Tearsheets from books and journals and commercial photographic prints constitute a picture reference collection. When the Munich shop and contents were appropriated by the German government in 1938, Laemmle moved his business to Los Angeles where his son Walter became a partner. The small number of images that record the activity of the Los Angeles shop show that the items sold there did not compare in quality with those handled in Munich. Approximately one-fifth of the glass negatives and a few of the prints are personal images, depicting Laemmle family members and groups. The collection also contains a recorded interview with Walter Laemmle, made on May 17, 1993, with his business associate Roger-F. BettleĢ, and Myra Orth and Frances Terpak of the Getty Research Institute.
