Arthur Gilbert (real estate developer)

Sir Arthur Gilbert (born Abraham Bernstein; May 16, 1913 – September 2, 2001) was a British-born American real estate developer, art collector and philanthropist.

Sir Arthur Gilbert
Born
Abraham Bernstein

May 16, 1913
London, England
DiedSeptember 2, 2001(2001-09-02) (aged 88)
Beverly Hills, California, US
NationalityBritish, American
OccupationReal estate developer, art collector, philanthropist
Known forGilbert Collection
Spouse(s)Rosalinde Gilbert
Marjorie Haworth
Children1

Early life

Arthur Gilbert was born as Abraham Bernstein on May 16, 1913 in Hackney, London.[1][2] He grew up in Golders Green, London.[3][4]

His father was Lazarus Bernstein, a furrier, and his mother was named Bella.[2] His parents were Jewish Polish immigrants who had moved to London in 1897,[1][4] and they also owned land and built a house in Rishon LeZion.[3] He and his parents attended the dedication ceremony of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1925.[3]

He was educated at boarding school from the age of four.[2]

Career

Gilbert was a successful businessman in England, selling gowns designed by his first wife.[2][3] He immigrated to the United States to obviate taxes in 1949.[2] Once in the Los Angeles area, he became a real estate developer.[4] He developed industrial sites under the name of the Gilbert Financial Corporation.[4]

Philanthropy

Gilbert served on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).[5] He loaned a large collection of objets d'art to the Museum from the 1970s to the mid-1990s.[2][5][6] He discontinued the agreement due to limited space at the LACMA.[2]

In 1996, Gilbert took back the collection of "gold, silver, mosaics, gold boxes and enamel portrait miniatures", worth about US $300 million, and donated it to the British nation.[2][7] Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, the Chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund, agreed to build a US$30 million gallery inside Somerset House to display the collection and attract visitors.[2] The new gallery was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2001.[2] The Gilbert Collection stayed there from 2001 to 2008.[7] It can now be viewed at the Victoria & Albert Museum.[7][8]

Additionally, Gilbert supported Jewish charitable causes in Europe and Israel. He made charitable contributions to the February 1941 Foundation, a non-profit organization which honors Dutch people who helped Jews escape from Nazi barbarism during World War II.[2] In Israel, he was the founder of the Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert Center for the Advancement of Scientific Research and made donations to erect buildings on the campus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.[2] He also made charitable contributions to the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.[3]

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.[4][9]

Personal life

He married Rosalinde Gilbert, a dress designer, in 1934, and took her surname.[2] They had a son, Colin.[2] After Rosalinde died in 1995, he married Marjorie Haworth in 1997.[4] They resided in Beverly Hills, California.[5] He became a naturalised American citizen.[9]

Death and legacy

Gilbert died of a heart attack on September 2, 2001, at his private residence in Beverly Hills, California.[5] He was eighty-eight years old.[4]

The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation is an active philanthropic organization.[10] For example, it donated US$6 million to the Younes and Soraya Israel Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2006.[11]

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References
  1. Julia Weiner, The lowly East Ender who gave Britain one of its greatest gifts, The Jewish Chronicle, June 25, 2009
  2. Alan Riding, Sir Arthur Gilbert Dies at 88; Gave Art Objects for Museum, The New York Times, September 5, 2001
  3. Tom Freudenheim, Sir Arthur Gilbert, The Guardian, 4 September 2001
  4. Sir Arthur Gilbert, The Daily Telegraph, 4 September 2001
  5. Elaine Woo, Sir Arthur Gilbert; British Art Benefactor, Real Estate Developer, The Los Angeles Times, September 4, 2001
  6. LACMA: History of the Gilbert Collection
  7. Victoria & Albert Museum: The Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection
  8. Paula Weideger, The Gilbert collection: Ups and downs of a move across town, Financial Times, September 14, 2009
  9. Art's Journey Leads to Knighthood, The Los Angeles Times, October 14, 1999
  10. Inside Philanthropy: Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation: Los Angeles Grants
  11. UCLA's International Institute Receives $1 Million for Israel Studies Endowed Chair From The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, UCLA Younes and Soraya Israel Studies Center, January 12, 2006
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