Wildenstein

The Wildenstein Empire was founded in the 1870 by Nathan Wildenstein, (1852-1934) when he fled his native Alsace in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War and settled in Paris. The business specialised at first in French paintings, drawings and sculpture always of the highest quality and largely of the 18thy century. However, Nathan was soon to expand the business and within a short time, he was acquiring Italian, Spanish and Dutch works of art of equal quality.

By the early 20th century with his business associates Ernest and René he opened a gallery in New York's prestigious 5th Avenue. By the mid-1930's Wildenstein & Co. as they were now known had commissioned a five storey building in East 64th that still today serves as the organisation's headquarters. The London office was opened in 1925 and is located in the prestigious St. James' district of London's West End. The Wildenstein Empire now has a branch in Tokyo which opened in the 1970's. Throughout its history, the organisation has supplied some of the world's great collectors with acquisitions. These include Calouste Gulbenkian, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, J. Pierpont Morgan, Samuel Courtauld, Edward G. Robinson, Henry Ford, the Rockefeller family, Walter P. Chrysler , Paul Mellon, Norton Simon, John Paul Getty, Stavros Niarchos, Gianni Agnelli and Walter H. Annenberg. Guy Wildenstein, the 5th generation of the family is today the President of one of the world's foremost art dynasties.