[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 115 (Thursday, September 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    A TRIBUTE TO SIR ARTHUR GILBERT

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                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 6, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today 
to pay tribute to a dear friend, an extraordinary man, and a giant in 
the art world, Sir Arthur Gilbert, who passed away on September 2, of 
this year.
  Born in 1913, Arthur's family emigrated from Poland to London where 
they operated a furrier business. After deciding not to enter the 
family business, Arthur chose to work with his wife, Rosalinde Gilbert, 
a struggling dress designer. He adopted her surname for business 
reasons, and the two of them quickly made a small fortune producing and 
marketing her evening gowns. In 1949, they decided to leave the damp 
and cold of London for the warm California sun, and they moved to Los 
Angeles, intending to retire.
  Instead of retiring, Arthur made a second fortune in real estate. 
Arthur ``never made money just for the sake of making money,'' as he 
liked to say, but he will be remembered not for how he made money, but 
rather how he spent it. His passion for collecting art came about 
almost accidently, while looking for decorations for his new home in 
Los Angeles. A friend suggested to him that he needed some silver to 
dress up the living room, so he purchased, in his words, a "schmaltzy 
cabinet by the 18th century silversmith Paul de Lamerie.'' It was also 
this time that he bought his first micromosaics, which are images 
created by tiny threads of glass. Arthur became quite enamored with 
micromosaics, and eventually purchased over 200 pieces.
  Mr. Speaker, the New York Times (September 4, 2001) noted in its 
obituary of Mr. Gilbert that ``in time his collection grew to comprise 
several collections. The silver and silver-gilt items include scores of 
ornate tankards, dishes, candelabra and cups that once decorated the 
royal and aristocratic dinner tables of Europe. His gold collection was 
made up of some 20 gold snuff boxes, which like the 260 micromosaics, 
and his 80 portrait miniatures, are best appreciated through a 
magnifying glass.''
  Arthur Gilbert was justifiably proud of his collection, and 
frequently he personally led tours through the museums which housed his 
collection. As his collection continued to expand, it eventually became 
too large for the space constraints at the Los Angeles County Museum of 
Art, where it had been housed for some time. In 1996, Arthur accepted 
an offer to house his collection in the newly renovated Somerset House, 
an 18th century palace in London, where it is now displayed. He called 
it ``Britain's heritage regained,'' since many of the pieces originally 
belonged to British aristocrats. The collection--valued at over $200 
million--has been open to the public since May of last year. In 
appreciation of this lavish bequest, Arthur Gilbert, who never 
renounced his British citizenship, was knighted in 1999.
  In addition to his donated art collection, both Arthur and Rosalinde 
Gilbert were benefactors of numerous charities and organizations. These 
include the Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert Center for the Advancement of 
Scientific Research. They have contributed generously to the February 
1941 Foundation--an extraordinary foundation created to thank the Dutch 
people for assisting Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and downed Allied 
pilots during World War II.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe the Los Angeles Times (September 4, 2001) 
captured the essence of this outstanding philanthropist, when it quoted 
him: ``Whether you collect snuff boxes or matchboxes, don't buy because 
it's going up in value but because you like it or it will enhance your 
life --then give it away.'' I invite my colleagues to join me in paying 
tribute to Sir Arthur Gilbert, an outstanding Californian and a 
generous philanthropist.




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