Synopses & Reviews
Alfred Bader's achievementsas the founder of one of the most important companies in its field in the world, as a collector and dealer in Old Master paintings, and as a legendary philanthropistmake for fascinating reading. This book begins where Alfred Bader's first autobiography, Adventures of a Chemist Collector, ended: with the boardroom coup in which he was dismissed from the chemical company he had built up from the ground. Bader now turns his enormous energy to Old Master paintings, in which he had become interested at a young age and in which he by now has the means to invest. The chapters that follow are roughly chronological, with some devoted to particularly meaningful paintings or groups of paintings, memorable auctions, mysteries, or discoveries relating to the artworks in the Bader Collection, while others are dedicated to friends, family, love, religion, charity, and, occasionally, chemistry.
About the Author
Born in Vienna, Alfred Bader fled to England at the age of 14 just before the outbreak of World War II, where he was interned as an enemy alien and sent to a Canadian prisoner of war camp. On his release in 1941, he studied engineering chemistry at Queen's University, Ontario, and was subsequently a fellow in organic chemistry at Harvard. In 1951 he founded Aldrich, which became, as Sigma-Aldrich, one of the world's largest suppliers of research chemicals. After being ousted from the company in a boardroom coup he turned his attention to Old Master paintings, becoming a leading collector and dealer. Alfred and his family have become well known as generous benefactors in many diverse fields and his personal philanthropy has been directed towards helping students and teachers of chemistry and art history.