Alfred Baur

Alfred Baur (1865-1951) was born in Andelfingen, Switzerland, (Zurich). He attended school in Winterthur and joined a large international trading company which posted him in Colombo, Ceylon [A. Baur & Co. Ltd: 100 years in Sri Lanka, 1897-1997 (1997)] . When Baur came back to Switzerland in 1906, he settled in Geneva. During his travelsAlfred Baur developed a passion for Oriental art. [Alfred Baur: Pionnier et collectionneur = Alfred Baur : pioneer and collector by Pierre-Francis Schneeberger (1989)] . Interest in Oriental art had grown increasingly since the end of the previous century, stimulated as it was by scientific research, archeological excavation and the writings of a number of European experts. Alfred Baur brought together a collection of Chinese porcelain, jade and Japanese art [Collecting Japanese Antiques by Alistair Seton (2004) p.113] [Splendors of Imperial Japan: Arts of the Meiji Period From the Khalili Collection by Joe Earle (2005) p.141] [Treasures of Imperial Japan: Ceramics from the Khalili Collection by Oliver Impey and Malcolm Fairley (2005) p.21] objects which stands out as one of the most beautiful private collections in Europe today. A private collection reflects the preferences of an amateur and, as such, reveals the spirit of his time. Baur chose to buy "small quantities of rare works of art rather than large numbers of articles of inferior quality". Through his collections, he appears as a man of taste. During his life time, he donated his collections to a foundation which bears his name and that of his wife, a Genevese by birth: the "Fondation Alfred et Eugimie Baur-Duret (Collections)".

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See also

* Shoami
* Umetada
* Aesthetics
* Toreutics
* History of decorative arts