Ernest Thiel
Encyclopedia
Ernest Jacques Thiel was a Swedish financier and art collector whose former villa in the Stockholm park area Djurgården today houses the Thielska galleriet
(the Thiel Gallery). Thiel also translated works by Nietzsche
into Swedish.
Ernest Thiel's parents were the Belgian Catholic engineer Jacques Thiel and Fanny Stiebel, of German-Jewish origin. After school in Stockholm, Thiel was sent to Germany to learn trade in a Hamburg merchant house, and later worked in a bank there. He returned to Stockholm in 1877 and found work in Stockholms Enskilda Bank
, the bank of the Wallenberg family
. In 1884 he became the manager of the Stockholm office of Hernösands enskilda bank and in 1891 he had accumulated enough capital to start his own bank, Stockholms Kredit- och Diskontoförening, later known as Aktiebolaget Stockholms diskontobank, which he headed until 1901. In 1884 he had married Anna Josephson, member of a well-known Jewish family and sister-in-law of the publisher Karl Otto Bonnier
. He caused a scandal when he divorced her (1896–97) to marry Signe Hansen, a young and beautiful widow with literary and artistic interests who had been his wife's companion.
Thiel's art collecting began in earnest in 1901, when he bought art for the then considerable sum of 19,000 crowns
at the exhibition of the Konstnärsförbundet artist group. The following year he bought 19 paintings by Bruno Liljefors
. The flat at Strandvägen
into which he had moved with second wife in 1897 started to be cramped, and in 1904, Thiel commissioned the architect Ferdinand Boberg
to build him a large villa at Blockhusudden in the Djurgården park area of Stockholm. It was soon discovered that the art collection had outgrown the building and Boberg had to add another large room in 1905. Prince Eugen, the painter and collector, had recently had Boberg design a combined residence and art gallery at Waldemarsudde
in another part of Djurgården, which may have influenced Thiel. The Prince originally counteracted Thiel's plans and forced him to move his new house to a spot farther away from Waldemarsudde than he had first wanted, but when, in 1906, Eugen gave Thiel a painting of his, Nattmolnet (The Night Cloud) it was a sign that he had accepted his position in the art life of Sweden.
Thielska Galleriet
Thielska Galleriet is an art museum in the Djurgården park area of Stockholm, Sweden. The museum originates as the private residence and art gallery of the banker and collector Ernest Thiel who acquired art by his contemporaries among Scandinavian artists, such as Bruno Liljefors, Eugène Jansson...
(the Thiel Gallery). Thiel also translated works by Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
into Swedish.
Ernest Thiel's parents were the Belgian Catholic engineer Jacques Thiel and Fanny Stiebel, of German-Jewish origin. After school in Stockholm, Thiel was sent to Germany to learn trade in a Hamburg merchant house, and later worked in a bank there. He returned to Stockholm in 1877 and found work in Stockholms Enskilda Bank
Stockholms Enskilda Bank
Stockholms Enskilda Bank, sometimes called Enskilda banken or SEB, was a Swedish bank, founded in 1856 by André Oscar Wallenberg as Stockholm's first private bank...
, the bank of the Wallenberg family
Wallenberg family
The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish banking family, renowned as bankers, industrialists, politicians, diplomats and philanthropists. The most famous of the Wallenbergs, Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat, worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust...
. In 1884 he became the manager of the Stockholm office of Hernösands enskilda bank and in 1891 he had accumulated enough capital to start his own bank, Stockholms Kredit- och Diskontoförening, later known as Aktiebolaget Stockholms diskontobank, which he headed until 1901. In 1884 he had married Anna Josephson, member of a well-known Jewish family and sister-in-law of the publisher Karl Otto Bonnier
Bonnier family
The Bonnier family is a wealthy Swedish family of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, active in the publishing business since the late-18th century. The family controls the Swedish company Bonnier AB, with an annual revenue in 2008 of US$ 4.13 billion ....
. He caused a scandal when he divorced her (1896–97) to marry Signe Hansen, a young and beautiful widow with literary and artistic interests who had been his wife's companion.
Thiel's art collecting began in earnest in 1901, when he bought art for the then considerable sum of 19,000 crowns
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
at the exhibition of the Konstnärsförbundet artist group. The following year he bought 19 paintings by Bruno Liljefors
Bruno Liljefors
Bruno Andreas Liljefors was a Swedish artist, the most important and probably the most influential wildlife painter of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century...
. The flat at Strandvägen
Strandvägen
Strandvägen is a boulevard on Östermalm in central Stockholm, Sweden. Completed just in time for the Stockholm World's Fair 1897, it quickly became known as one of the most prestigious addresses in town....
into which he had moved with second wife in 1897 started to be cramped, and in 1904, Thiel commissioned the architect Ferdinand Boberg
Ferdinand Boberg
Ferdinand Boberg, born 11 April 1860 in Falun, died 7 May 1946 in Stockholm, was a Swedish architect.He was one of the most productive and prominent architects of Stockholm around the turn of the 20th century. Among his most famous work is an electrical plant at Björns Trädgård in Stockholm, that...
to build him a large villa at Blockhusudden in the Djurgården park area of Stockholm. It was soon discovered that the art collection had outgrown the building and Boberg had to add another large room in 1905. Prince Eugen, the painter and collector, had recently had Boberg design a combined residence and art gallery at Waldemarsudde
Waldemarsudde
Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde , the scenic former home of the Swedish Prince Eugen, is a museum located on Djurgården in central Stockholm. The name is derived from a historical name of the island Djurgården, Valmundsö The painter prince discovered the place in 1892, when he rented a house there for...
in another part of Djurgården, which may have influenced Thiel. The Prince originally counteracted Thiel's plans and forced him to move his new house to a spot farther away from Waldemarsudde than he had first wanted, but when, in 1906, Eugen gave Thiel a painting of his, Nattmolnet (The Night Cloud) it was a sign that he had accepted his position in the art life of Sweden.