Sam and Ayala Zacks were prominent Canadian art collectors of international repute active in the mid-20th century whose gifts form the basis of the modern European art collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Ayala Ben Tovim Fleg Zacks Abramov (1912-) was born in Jerusalem and educated in Israel, Paris and London. In 1938 she married Maurice Fleg in Paris, and joined the French Resistance after her husband died in action in1940. Active in Zionist circles after the war, she met Sam Zacks in Switzerland. Samuel J. Zacks (1904-1970) was a financier, Zionist and art collector, born in Kingston Ontario and educated at Queen’s University and Harvard. Following their marriage in 1947 they immediately began to collect art of the School of Paris as well as Canadian and Israeli art and antiquities, amassing an extensive collection by the late 1950’s that was in continual demand by museums around the world. In 1956 a collection of Canadian art was donated to Queen’s University, Mr. Zack’s alma mater, the first of many significant gifts to institutions in Israel and Canada including the Hazor Archaeological Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Mr. and Mrs. Zacks were both involved in international art circles, sitting on the Boards of the International Committee of Museums (ICOM), a branch of UNELA.SCO, the International Committee of the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Gallery of Ontario and others. In 1969 Mr. Zacks received an Honourary Fellowship from St. Peter’s College, Oxford. He died in 1970 in Toronto. After his death, Ayala Zacks was awarded the Order of Canada and an honourary degree from the University of Toronto. She married Zalman Abramov, an Israeli lawyer and politician in 1976 and moved permanently to Israel in 1982.
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Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario
Series contains correspondence, invoices, customs and shipping documents; shareholder reports (Here and Now Gallery), and a promissory note in the Carstairs Gallery file. Arrangement is alphabetical by dealer or gallery name
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Undated list of private and institutional galleries, compiled for the purpose of an address change.
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Typed and hand-written lists of works of art; correspondence documenting the steps involved in purchasing and exporting antiquities; letters detailing financial negotiations; request for photograph
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Correspondence regarding purchases of Rodin and Gromaire.
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Invoices for purchase of Rodin bust, and antiquities; customs and shipping forms; correspondence relating to purchase of a Carpeaux bust and antiques; negotiations over prices. Note: The contents of this file contain only material relating to the London Arcade Gallery.
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Offers, including photographs, of works of art; negotiations over prices; customs and shipping forms.
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Correspondence regarding Khmer antiquities.
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Correspondence, invoices, shipping and customs information regarding the purchase of antiques.
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Correspondence and documents relating to the purchase of Chadwick "Oiseau", Arp "Sculpture de silence", Matisse "Nu debout", Arp "Flower Flute", Marini "Cavallo"; correspondence relating to pieces by Arp and others; negotiations for sale of a Jawlensky owned by the Zacks.
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Extensive corresponsive regarding selling and trading - the Zacks obtained the Degas pastel "Apres le bain", in return for the sale of several works to Beyeler.
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Correspondence relating to the running of the gallery, shareholders' reports, press releases; invoices for works purchased.
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Correspondence, including quotes, regarding the purchase of antiquities.
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Correspondence, invoices and documentation regarding the purchase of African art.
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As above, including ethnographic art from Canada and the far east.
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Correspondence including quotations and documentation concerning the purchase of African art.
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Request for photographs of Picasso "Woman with Necklace"; receipt from American and Foreign Investors Corporation regarding loan taken to pay for the Picasso.
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Correspondence re purchase of ceramics and flints.
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Invoice for Australian Aboriginal bark painting.
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Invoice, correspondence and documentation regarding 4 drawings by Appel, Chagall and Dubuffet.
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Correspondence relating to purchase of works by Borduas, Paolozzi, Moore, Arp, and others, and many requests for payment.
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Correspondence regarding the sale and purchase of paintings, including Dubuffet, Balla, Embry, Matta and Jorn.
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Correspondence including offers of words for sale by Delaunay, Degas, Derain and Marquet.
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Correspondence and invoice re a Pre-Columbian sculpture.
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Correspondence and invoices regarding purchases of a Gerald Laing; correspondence and lists re works consigned to the gallery for sale.
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Invoice for bronzes by Matisse, Laurens, Kolbe, Lipchitz and Marcks; correspodence regarding a painting by Modigliani.
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Correspondence regarding sales and accounts
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Correspondence relating to Sorel Etrog; consignment and sale of paintings; personal visits; documentation relating to shipping works back and forth from New York. Extensive correspondence documenting a long personal and professional involvement.
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Correspondence relating to sales of Barbara Hepworth, Hubert Dalwood and quotes regarding a number of artists including Moore, Picasso, and others; personal relationships evolving from business.
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Documentation and correspondence relating to the purchase of Ashanti weights.
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Correspondence documenting transactions involving the sale and trade of paintings and sculpture, including Dubuffet and Gauguin in exchange for Gris; Chagel in exchange for Marini, Lipchitz, Marquet, Riopelle and Leger; other deals and offers.
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Correspondence regarding the purchase of Giacometti, Reg Butler, Paolozzi and others; revealing letters documenting the financial dealings involved in the art market.
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Correspondence and invoice relating to purchase of Rouault, Soutine, Renoir and Pascin.
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Long, news-filled letters, including gossip about the art world from Ted Heinrich; business letters to and from his agent, "Johny Siam"relating to export of antiquities with shipping and customs documentation.
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Correspondence and invoice relating to the purchase of African sculpture.
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Quote, invoices and overdue notices.
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News-filled, friendly correspondence relating to art purchases, Israel, and other matters. Invoices mostly relate to the purchase of Amlach pieces and Israeli artists, including Sorel Etrog; customs and shipping documentation.
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Extensive correspondence relating to purchases and sales of both modern paintings and antiquities.
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Note and invoice for African tribal art.
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Correspondence relating to the purchase of an Australian bark painting and the possibility of loans to Australian; the file ends with the news of Mr. Kane's death.
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Correspondence and related documents regarding the consignment of antiquities from the Zacks' collection to Mr. Kernerman.
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Invoices for drawings by Matisse, Derain, Bonnard, Gauguin and Pissarro, offset by the sale of 2 Dufy watercolours; later correspondence regarding photographs.
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Invoices for Moore, Archambault, Epstein, Marini, Harold Town and others; correspondence relating to a gift to the AGT.
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Correspondence and quotes regarding purchase and consignment of primitive sculpture.
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Correspondence relating to quotes and consignment of a Chagall.
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Invoice and correspondence relating to purchase of Armitage, Chadwick and Trsar bronzes, a Henry Moore alabaster and a Dubuffet oil; statements and correspondence relating to late payments.
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Correspondence relating to Henry Moore and the sculpture center in Toronto and other matters.
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Correspondence relating to Moore, David Smith, Yaacov Agam, Ben Nicholson and others.
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Invoice for works by Corneille, Jorn and Appel, with documentation regarding shipping and customs.
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Documentation and correspondence relating to the purchase of 3 paintings by Derain, Dufy and Delaunay.
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Correspondence relating to consignment of 2 drawings and possible purchases.
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Statement of money owing.
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Correspondence regarding payment of shipping charges.
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Invoice and correspondence relating to purchase of Dury, Gris, de la Fresnaye, Derain, van Dongen, Guillaumin and Calmette.
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Invoices, correspondence and lists of works consigned by the Zacks.
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Correspondence regarding investments, personal correspondence; Sotheby sale for which Mr. Morris acted as SZ's agent.
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Correspondence related to purchases and consignments.
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4-page list comprising a valuation of material sent to Queen's; statements of account and lists of works consigned.
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Invoice for Corot and Delacroix with shipping documents; later requests for photographs.
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Correspondence and invoice regarding purchase of Toni Onley, Roy Kiyooka and Tanabe.
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Invoice for a Daumier drawing and Chagall painting; carbon copy of a promissory note.
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Undated lists of paintings from O'Obelisco and from Knoedler Galleries, with prices, annotated.
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Correspondence regarding shipping of loaned paintings.
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Correspondence regarding the purchase of a stone Buddha, bronze hands and other Khmer antiquities, with reference to business with Ted Heinrich.
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Letters from Mrs. Zacks requesting photographs.
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Correspondence regarding unpaid invoice.
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Correspondence relating to consignment of paintings, and recovery of a Dufy watercolour confiscated at the airport.
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Correspondence and documentation relating to purchases of antiquities.
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Letter containing proposals for purchase of Braque, Villon and Delaunay.
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2 letters to the Gallery requesting negatives.
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Letter from Mr. Zacks' secretary requesting negatives.
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Correspondence and documentation relating to purchase of antiquities.
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Invoices for Canadian paintings.
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Invoices for artifacts and correspondence relating to payments.
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Quotes and invoices for some important works bought early in the Zacks' collecting career, including 3 Picasso paintings, and works by Rouault, Klee, Modigliani, Leger, and others.
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Correspondence relating to requests for photographs, customs form for 4 paintings by Braque, Von Dongen, Rouault and Vlaminck.
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Correspondence relating to shipment of paintings to Sotherby's, London, and the subsequent sale on July 4/5, in which none of the paintings sold; negotiations in the aftermath of the sale regarding payment for shipping; documents relating to shipping and customs; correspondence relating to antiquities.
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Correspondence relating to purchase of Spanish paintings, Riopelle, Jorn and others; letters requesting payment; quotes for works available for purchase; shipping and customs documentation.
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Correspondence and documentation relating to the purchase of antiquities.
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Quotes of works of art available for purchase.
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