The collaboration of the cousins and their husbands shows that they were all aware of the profit-making potential of Cubist art from the sequestration sales. The correspondence mentions deals and exchanges possibilities with Kahnweiler but also with Léonce Rosenberg when they needed cash assets. The German dealer Karl Nierendorf who seemed to have been close to the Levy is also regularly mentioned. Indeed, Denise and Georges Levy lived in Strasbourg close to the German border and were going frequently to Cologne to buy works at the Nierendorf gallery and at the branch of galerie Alfred Flechtheim. After the war, the Germany economy was collapsing from a super-inflation, particularly in 1922-23 when the paper mark was virtually worthless (multiplied by 100 billions). This extraordinary devaluation of the mark increased considerably the spending power of foreigners, making francs or dollars extremely strong and the mark, extremely fluctuant, unreliable. This situation is clearly mentioned in the cousins’ correspondence. From the end of 1922, Denise wrote to Simone: “Georges would like to go to Cologne especially as the Mark is currently at 70” (Lettre de Denise Lévy à Simone Breton, 3 August 1922, private archives) and few months later while she just comes back from a trip in Germany: “There would really be money to make for André, you should take care of it. There will be perhaps favorable things to buy or André could sell some. One wants in Germany paintings of French painters in French currency and they are highly sought after, especially Braque, Picasso, Derain, Léger” (Letter by Denise Lévy to Simone Breton, 5 November 1922, private archives). Denise continues later to ask for prices of Braque and Léger that Simone could provide in Paris. Georges Levy himself writes to Simone in 1924 mentioning possible deals with Denise’s brother Jean Nordmann related to works that came from the sequestration sale. The journey of some works seems difficult to follow as they changed hands repeatedly. In a letter of May 1924, one year after the last sale, Georges wrote: “Nordmann can buy the Léger 2500 frs if you are still determined to sell it… To finance our next trip to Paris, I want to sell the Picasso (young girl) who is at Kahnweiler to Nordmann. I said it costs about 2300 frs” (Letter by Georges Lévy to Simone Breton, 24 May1924, private archives). If this young girl by Picasso that seems to be on deposit at Kahnweiler’s galerie is the one that Simone bought for her cousins in the last sale (lot 340 Image), it means that its price had risen ten fold. The Levys, with the help of Simone and the advice of Breton were really acting as private dealers as it’s clearly expressed a month later, still in a letter by Georges: “My Dear Simone, first/ what interests me about Nordmann is the possibility of earning money. I do not know if it is advantageous to offer him paintings of Eluard or that of K. Anyway - if you do not mind - it would be useful to go and ask the price of the Picasso at K.” (Lettre de Georges Lévy à Simone Breton 5 June 1924, private archives) and then continues “second at Eluard I saw several paintings that tempt me much. You can choose with André’s help which Chirico you like the most. If it’s not among the most expensive you can take two”. He ends by saying: “Braque interests me at the moment only with the same prices as in the Kahnweiler sales - so there will probably be nothing to do”. Indeed one year after the last and most disastrous of the Kahnweiler sales, Cubist artworks, despite the nationalist critics associating Cubism to “art boche” saw their prices increased considerably. They aroused great interest in the surrealist group thanks to their aesthetic qualities but also as a source of profit in trades amongst themselves and in deals with collectors.
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Summary