He was born in London. In June of 1999 he was was on the Queen's Honour List to be knighted. He was invested as a Knight Bachelor in October, 1999.
Arts Patron, Philantropist, Businessman. Born Arthur Bernstein in North London, where his parents had settled after leaving Poland in 1893, and where his father established a successful business as a furrier, he married Rosalinde Gilbert in 1934 and took his wife's surname. The following year they started their own evening gown business where she was the designer and he was the salesman, bookkeeper and general manager. By 1949, the couple made enough money to retire and decided to emigrate to California, however he was unable to relax and, looking for business opportunities, became a very successful real estate developer. In the 1960s he began to collect art, most notably English and Continental silver, European gold snuff boxes and Italian mosaics. Within 15 years, he had amassed a collection (worth $200 million), significant enough to warrant an exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He became a founder of the Los Angeles Music Center, a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and a Trustee of the Armand Hammer United World College. In Europe, he founded the 'February 1941 Foundation' to thank the Dutch people for their support of Dutch Jews during World War II, founded the Gilbert Centre for the Advancement of Scientific Research in Israel where he built the first student dormitory in memory of the Israeli athletes who were killed at the Munich Olympic Games and erected a building at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the teaching of overseas students. He originally intended to donate his silver and mosaic collections to LACMA, where the pieces were on loan, but had a falling-out with the museum over where and how the collections would be displayed, and in 1996, instead gave the pieces to the Somerset House in England. In June 1999, Gilbert was awarded the honor of Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. Art & Antiques Magazine called he and his wife one of the 100 top collectors.
Arts Patron, Philantropist, Businessman. Born Arthur Bernstein in North London, where his parents had settled after leaving Poland in 1893, and where his father established a successful business as a furrier, he married Rosalinde Gilbert in 1934 and took his wife's surname. The following year they started their own evening gown business where she was the designer and he was the salesman, bookkeeper and general manager. By 1949, the couple made enough money to retire and decided to emigrate to California, however he was unable to relax and, looking for business opportunities, became a very successful real estate developer. In the 1960s he began to collect art, most notably English and Continental silver, European gold snuff boxes and Italian mosaics. Within 15 years, he had amassed a collection (worth $200 million), significant enough to warrant an exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He became a founder of the Los Angeles Music Center, a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and a Trustee of the Armand Hammer United World College. In Europe, he founded the 'February 1941 Foundation' to thank the Dutch people for their support of Dutch Jews during World War II, founded the Gilbert Centre for the Advancement of Scientific Research in Israel where he built the first student dormitory in memory of the Israeli athletes who were killed at the Munich Olympic Games and erected a building at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the teaching of overseas students. He originally intended to donate his silver and mosaic collections to LACMA, where the pieces were on loan, but had a falling-out with the museum over where and how the collections would be displayed, and in 1996, instead gave the pieces to the Somerset House in England. In June 1999, Gilbert was awarded the honor of Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. Art & Antiques Magazine called he and his wife one of the 100 top collectors.
He was born in London. In June of 1999 he was was on the Queen's Honour List to be knighted. He was invested as a Knight Bachelor in October, 1999.
Arts Patron, Philantropist, Businessman. Born Arthur Bernstein in North London, where his parents had settled after leaving Poland in 1893, and where his father established a successful business as a furrier, he married Rosalinde Gilbert in 1934 and took his wife's surname. The following year they started their own evening gown business where she was the designer and he was the salesman, bookkeeper and general manager. By 1949, the couple made enough money to retire and decided to emigrate to California, however he was unable to relax and, looking for business opportunities, became a very successful real estate developer. In the 1960s he began to collect art, most notably English and Continental silver, European gold snuff boxes and Italian mosaics. Within 15 years, he had amassed a collection (worth $200 million), significant enough to warrant an exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He became a founder of the Los Angeles Music Center, a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and a Trustee of the Armand Hammer United World College. In Europe, he founded the 'February 1941 Foundation' to thank the Dutch people for their support of Dutch Jews during World War II, founded the Gilbert Centre for the Advancement of Scientific Research in Israel where he built the first student dormitory in memory of the Israeli athletes who were killed at the Munich Olympic Games and erected a building at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the teaching of overseas students. He originally intended to donate his silver and mosaic collections to LACMA, where the pieces were on loan, but had a falling-out with the museum over where and how the collections would be displayed, and in 1996, instead gave the pieces to the Somerset House in England. In June 1999, Gilbert was awarded the honor of Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. Art & Antiques Magazine called he and his wife one of the 100 top collectors.
Arts Patron, Philantropist, Businessman. Born Arthur Bernstein in North London, where his parents had settled after leaving Poland in 1893, and where his father established a successful business as a furrier, he married Rosalinde Gilbert in 1934 and took his wife's surname. The following year they started their own evening gown business where she was the designer and he was the salesman, bookkeeper and general manager. By 1949, the couple made enough money to retire and decided to emigrate to California, however he was unable to relax and, looking for business opportunities, became a very successful real estate developer. In the 1960s he began to collect art, most notably English and Continental silver, European gold snuff boxes and Italian mosaics. Within 15 years, he had amassed a collection (worth $200 million), significant enough to warrant an exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He became a founder of the Los Angeles Music Center, a trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and a Trustee of the Armand Hammer United World College. In Europe, he founded the 'February 1941 Foundation' to thank the Dutch people for their support of Dutch Jews during World War II, founded the Gilbert Centre for the Advancement of Scientific Research in Israel where he built the first student dormitory in memory of the Israeli athletes who were killed at the Munich Olympic Games and erected a building at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for the teaching of overseas students. He originally intended to donate his silver and mosaic collections to LACMA, where the pieces were on loan, but had a falling-out with the museum over where and how the collections would be displayed, and in 1996, instead gave the pieces to the Somerset House in England. In June 1999, Gilbert was awarded the honor of Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. Art & Antiques Magazine called he and his wife one of the 100 top collectors.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
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