Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive
Scope and Content Note
The Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive documents a four-generation family business of art dealers from circa 1890-2012. The vast majority of records relate to the New York business (Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc.) which operated from 1939-2000, while much more limited documentation exists for Antiquitäten J. Rosenbaum, GmbH in Frankfurt; I. Rosenbaum, N.V. in Amsterdam; S. & R. Rosenberg, Ltd. in London; and Stiebel et Cie in Paris.
Series I: Sales and Inventory Records, 1904-2011 (bulk: 1939-2000), consists of ledgers, stock books, card files, copies of invoices, collection inventories, appraisals, and purchase lists, documenting the acquisition and sale of art objects. Materials are arranged into subseries based on the firm which produced them. The majority of material was created by Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc., along with limited records from J. Rosenbaum, GmbH; I. Rosenbaum, N.V.; S. & R. Rosenberg, Ltd.; and Stiebel et Cie.
Series II: Subject Files, 1911-2011 (bulk: 1933-2000), consists of correspondence, transactional documents, and other records produced by the Rosenberg and Stiebel family businesses and arranged by subject or correspondent. Materials are divided into subseries based on the firm that produced them or by a subject that spans multiple firms. Subseries related to I. Rosenbaum, N.V.; Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc.; the Aurora Trust; and Forwarding Agents have been processed. Additional subject files related to Stiebel Modern; Stiebel, Ltd.; the Stiebel family’s involvement in international professional organizations and research projects; and other business ventures have not yet been processed but have been inventoried.
Series III: Family History, 1878-2012 and undated, documents the activities of the Rosenbaum, Rosenberg, Sichel, Stiebel, and related families in Europe and the United States, both personal and professional, from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. A significant amount of material comes from Irene Sichel Stiebel, wife of Eric Stiebel, and also documents her side of the family.
Series IV: Photographs, circa 1930s and circa 1944-2000, consists of black and white prints, Polaroids and other color photographs, negatives, transparencies, albums, card files, and documentation related to individual objects and private collections handled by the New York galleries (Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc.; Stiebel Modern; and Stiebel, Ltd.). Photographs of individual objects are arranged by medium according to a classification scheme developed by Rosenberg & Stiebel, and then by inventory number. Photographs of the collections of Albert Koppel (inherited from Leopold Koppel) and Catalina von Pannwitz (later comprising the Aurora Trust) are in a separate subseries.
Dates
- Creation: 1890-2014
- Creation: Majority of material found in 1939-2000
Creator
- Rosenberg & Stiebel (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
These records are open for research by appointment under the conditions of The Frick Collection Archives Access Policy. For all inquiries or to schedule an appointment, please contact the Archives Department at archives@frick.org.
Acquisitions and sales after 1969 are subject to restriction.
Biographical / Historical
Antiquitäten J. Rosenbaum, or J. Rosenbaum, GmbH, was founded by Jakob Rosenbaum in Frankfurt-am-Main in the 1870s. The gallery specialized in porcelains and other decorative objects. Jakob Rosenbaum’s son, Isaac Rosenbaum, took over the business in Frankfurt before relocating to Amsterdam in 1930 in response to the rise of Nazi power in Germany. Along with his nephews, the sons of his sister Bertha Rosenbaum Rosenberg (Saemy Rosenberg and Raphael Rosenberg) and half-sister Alice Rosenbaum Stiebel (Eric Stiebel and Hans Stiebel), Isaac Rosenbaum operated N.V. Internationale Antiquiteitenhandel, later known as I. Rosenbaum, N.V., where they began to specialize in Old Master paintings and continued to sell decorative art objects and French 18th-century furniture. Isaac Rosenbaum died in 1936.
Saemy and Raphael Rosenberg opened a gallery in London called S. & R. Rosenberg, Ltd. in 1936. Raphael remained in London, where he would continue operating the gallery until his death in 1968. Hans Stiebel (also known as Jean Stiebel) operated Stiebel et Cie in Paris from 1935-1951, and also joined his brother Eric and cousin Saemy in incorporating Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. in New York City in 1939. Eric Stiebel was the first to move to New York, establishing their gallery at 128 Central Park South in 1939, followed shortly thereafter by Saemy Rosenberg in 1940. Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc. relocated to 32 East 57th Street in 1944 and remained there until 2000.
I. Rosenbaum, N.V. was operated on a limited basis by Saemy Rosenberg in New York City from 1940 until the end of World War II, during which period an administrator known as a verwalter was appointed by the German government to sell the firm’s art collection, deemed “enemy property.” The headquarters of the firm was transferred to the Dutch colony of Curaçao in 1941, though it was still operated from New York. The firm was formally liquidated in 1948, but restitution efforts continued into the 1960s.
Hans Stiebel died in 1964 and Saemy Rosenberg died in 1971.
Eric Stiebel’s son, Gerald Stiebel, joined the firm around 1968, and Gerald’s wife, Penelope Hunter-Stiebel, joined in 1986. After Eric’s death in 2000, Gerald and Penelope changed the gallery’s name to Stiebel, Ltd. and relocated to 13 East 69th Street, where they operated until around 2011.
Extent
155 Linear feet (Approximately 155 linear feet of material has been processed; an additional 240 linear feet have been inventoried or minimally processed)
Language of Materials
English
German
Dutch; Flemish
French
Abstract
The Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive documents a four-generation family business of art dealers from circa 1890-2012. The vast majority of records relate to the New York business, Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc., which operated from 1939-2000, while much more limited documentation exists for Antiquitäten J. Rosenbaum, GmbH in Frankfurt; I. Rosenbaum, N.V. in Amsterdam; S. & R. Rosenberg, Ltd. in London; and Stiebel et Cie in Paris. These records contain important provenance information from the Nazi era and later, especially concerning the art collections of Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, Clarice de Rothschild, and Catalina von Pannwitz. The family continued to sell art to major American collectors and art museums throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. The collection contains purchase and sales ledgers, stock books, invoices, correspondence, contracts, inventories, and photographs.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 4 processed series, each containing multiple subseries. Future series will include auction catalogs, administrative records, exhibition files, and scrapbooks.
Series I: Sales & Inventory Records, 1904-2011, bulk: 1939-2000 (arranged into subseries based on firm)
Subseries 1: J. Rosenbaum, GmbH, 1904-1917
Subseries 2: I. Rosenbaum, N.V., 1931-1947, bulk: 1943-1947
Subseries 3: Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc., 1939-2000
Subseries 4: S. & R. Rosenberg, Ltd., 1936-1968
Subseries 5: Stiebel et Cie, 1934-1940, undated
Series II: Subject Files, 1911-2011, bulk: 1933-2000 (arranged into subseries based on firm or subject that spans multiple firms)
Subseries 1: I. Rosenbaum, N.V., 1890-1964, bulk: 1930-1949
Subseries 2: Rosenberg & Stiebel, Inc., 1911-2011, bulk: 1939-2000
Subseries 3: Aurora Trust, 1915-2008, bulk: 1941-2002
Subseries 4: Forwarding Agents, 1939-1999
Series III: Family History, 1878-2012, undated (arranged into subseries based on format)
Subseries 1: Artifacts, circa 19th-20th century
Subseries 2: Certificates and awards, 1912-2011
Subseries 3: Correspondence, 1878-1981
Subseries 4: Photographs and scrapbooks, circa 19th century - 2000
Subseries 5: Printed Material, 1883-2012
Subseries 6: Miscellaneous, 1914-1986
Series IV: Photographs, circa 1930s, circa 1944-2000
Subseries 1: Objects, circa 1944-2000 (arranged by medium)
Subseries 2: Collections, circa 1930s-1990s (arranged by collector name)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Gerald G. Stiebel, 2022.
Processing Information
Arranged and described by Elizabeth Kobert.
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Rosenberg & Stiebel Archive.
- Author
- Elizabeth Kobert
- Date
- © 2024 The Frick Collection. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Frick Collection Archives Repository
