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Sir Arthur Gilbert (1913-2001)

At Cheltenham College, 1928

Born Abraham Bernstein in 1913, in Hackney, London, where his parents had settled after leaving Poland in 1893, in 1934 Arthur married the talented dress designer Rosalinde Gilbert and took her name. Their evening gown business was so successful that in 1949, at the age of 36, they decided to retire and emigrate to California.

He embraced the Californian way of life but, unable to relax, soon began looking for business opportunities and became a successful real estate developer. He said: "To me, making money just for the sake of making money doesn't make any sense, so I evolved into a collector. Simultaneously I began to support a number of charities in America and the new State of Israel". He is widely recognized for his generosity to charities throughout the world. Sir Arthur remained in California until his death on the 2nd September 2001.

Arthur and Rosalinde marry, 1934

Arthur Gilbert was rightly proud of the magnificent collection of works of art which he and his wife began to form in the 1960s. At that time British museums were not always able to raise the money to prevent the export of important objects and the Gilberts acquired objects from such historic houses as Althorp, Belton, Stowe and Powderham Castle.

For many years the collection was on loan to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art but Sir Arthur came to feel that: "Because it had become part of my life, I felt it should be returned to the country of my birth".

He made his munificent gift of gold, silver, mosaics and gold boxes to the nation in 1996. Now estimated to be worth over £100 million, it is one of the most important collections of works of art ever given to Britain and in 1999 he was awarded the honour of Knight Bachelor in recognition of his generosity.

For more information, see the article about Sir Arthur Gilbert published by The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, available without a subscription by clicking here.