David David-Weill was a French-American banker, chairman of Lazard Freres in Paris, who built an important collection of art.
13 Facts About David David-Weill
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David David-Weill's collection was plundered by the Nazis during the Second World War and over 2000 items seized.
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David David-Weill was a major donor to French and American museums and galleries and a benefactor to universities.
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David David-Weill was the son of Julie and Alexandre Weill.
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David David-Weill's parents had left France in 1870 because of the Franco-Prussian War, and settled in California, where Raphael Weill, a brother of Alexandre Weill, lived.
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David David-Weill married Flora Raphael in 1897 and they had seven children, including Pierre David-Weill and Jean David-Weill.
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David David-Weill became a regent of the Banque de France in 1935.
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David David-Weill's acquisitions included paintings, drawings, miniatures, sculptures, furniture, silverware, and other items.
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David David-Weill became president of the Reunion des Musees Nationaux and vice president of the Societe des amis du Louvre.
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In 1931, David-Weill transferred part of his collection to a British holding company called Anglo-Continental Art, Inc, which was owned by a Canadian corporation that he controlled.
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In late 1940, David-Weill sent twenty-six cases of paintings and antiquities to Lisbon for shipment on the SS Excalibur to New York, where they were to be sold by the Wildensteins, as property of Anglo-Continental Art, Inc However US Treasury officials, concerned about their French origins in wartime, "descended on the elegant premises of Wildenstein, New York".
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David David-Weill donated to the libraries of the Musee de l'Homme and the Institut national d'histoire de l'art, to which he gave the manuscript and journal of Eugene Delacroix.
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David David-Weill gave his Chinese-bronze collection to the Musee Guimet and his cloisonne objects to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.