Samuel Harold Collection

The Harold Samuel Collection, comprising eighty-four seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, has been described as the finest private collection of such works to be formed in Britain this century. It includes paintings by such masters as Frans Hals, Nicolaes Maes and Gerard Dou, acquired by Lord Samuel for his personal pleasure and to hang in his home, Wych Cross. The Collection was bequeathed to the Corporation of London in 1987 to be hung permanently in the Lord Mayor's Residence, Mansion House. The refurbishment of Mansion House has provided the unique opportunity for an exhibition tour, during which the Harold Samuel will be seen by many for the very first time. Coinciding with the exhibition, a complete catalogue of the Collection has been compiled by an acknowedged expert, Peter C. Sutton. This book is the permanent record of a small but extremely important collection of paintings, which will delight scholar and amateur alike.

http://www.amazon.com/Dutch-Flemish-Seventeenth-Century-Paintings-Collection/dp/0521428408


在英國有兩位名人都叫Harold Samuel， 另一位是英國鋼琴家Harold Samuel ( 23/05/1879- 15/01/1937) ，是20世紀第一位對隻鑽研巴赫作品的鋼琴家。

Harold Samuel, Baron Samuel of Wych Cross (23 April 1912 - 28 August 1987) was the founder of Land Securities, one of the United Kingdom's largest property companies.

Born in Finchley and educated at Mill Hill School and the College of Estate Management at Lincoln's Inn Fields, Harold Samuel initially trained to be a surveyor.

He established himself as an estate agent but then in 1944 he acquired Land Securities Investment Trust, a small property concern owning three modest properties. After World War II he focused on securing bomb sites in Plymouth, Exeter, Hull, Coventry and Bristol and redeveloping them. He built the business into one of the largest companies on the London Stock Exchange.

He was knighted in 1963  and became a peer in 1972. He died in 1987.

Harold Samuel was an avid art collector: his collection of Dutch paintings was donated to the Mansion House Art Collection after his death. He also became a Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College, London.

 (wiki)