John W. Wilson, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

John W. Wilson

Belgian art collector who lived in Haarlem

Date of Birth: 15-Jun-1815

Place of Birth: Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium

Date of Death: 01-Aug-1883

Profession: art collector

Nationality: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Zodiac Sign: Gemini


Show Famous Birthdays Today, Kingdom of the Netherlands

👉 Worldwide Celebrity Birthdays Today

About John W. Wilson

  • John Waterloo Wilson (May 16, 1815 – August 12, 1883) was a Belgian art collector who lived many years in Haarlem. Wilson was born in Brussels as the son of the British industrialist Thomas Wilson, whose factory in Ukkel-Stalle had been damaged in 1830 by workers on strike.
  • As a friend of Willem I of the Netherlands Thomas won a contract for a new cotton factory in Haarlem and the young John relocated there with his family in 1833.
  • He studied chemistry in Manchester, England, presumably to learn more about the cotton-dyeing process that Haarlem was famous for at the time.
  • In 1839 he married the daughter of the Haarlem mayor Wilhelmina Christina van Valkenburg, who died young in 1844 and left him with three young children.
  • He travelled in Turkey and Egypt but his health prevented him from travel in 1872 when he started to concentrate on art collecting.
  • He followed in his father's footsteps as director of the firm and also as art collector, but returned to Brussels in 1873 where he showed his art collection and published a catalogue.
  • His collector's mark is known as Lugt number 2581.Like his father before him, Wilson was also owner of a manor house in Overijssel.
  • He left 27 paintings and a large sum of money to the city of Brussels, which named a street after him in gratitude: Rue John Waterloo Wilson.
  • His gift was instrumental in founding the Museum of the City of Brussels.
  • He and his father's cotton factory is remembered on its former location in Haarlem as the "Wilsonplein", today the location of the city theatre. Wilson died in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
  • He was the grandfather of the Dutch sport shooter John Wilson.

Read more at Wikipedia

See Also