Daniel Leopold Wildenstein (11 September 1917 – 23 October 2001) was a
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
art dealerAn art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers' professional associations serve to set high standards for accreditation or membership and to support art exhibitions and shows.-Role:...
and scholar, as well as a leading
thoroughbredThe Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
race horse owner and breeder.
Born in
Verrières-le-BuissonVerrières-le-Buisson is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is from the center of Paris, in the Essonne department just outside the inner ring of the Île-de-France.The commune borders the Bièvre River....
,
EssonneEssonne is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. It is named after the Essonne River.It was formed on 1 January 1968 when Seine-et-Oise was split into smaller departments.- History :...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(just outside of Paris), Wildenstein inherited the responsibility in 1963 of running Wildenstein & Company, a five-generation family business founded in 1875 by Nathan Wildenstein (Daniel's grandfather). Today Wildenstein is one of the world's most successful art conglomerates with offices in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and
Tokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Daniel Wildenstein was also a distinguished scholar of
ImpressionismImpressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
, preparing
catalogues raisonnésThe typical catalogue raisonné is a monograph giving a comprehensive catalogue of artworks by an artist.The essential elements of a catalogue raisonné are that it purports to be an exhaustive list of works for a defined subject matter describing the works in a way so that they may be reliably...
which include among others
Claude MonetClaude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
,
Edouard ManetÉdouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
and
Paul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
. A
Wildenstein Index NumberA Wildenstein Index Number refers to an item in a numerical system published in catalogues by Daniel Wildenstein, a scholar of Impressionism, who published catalogues raisonnés of artists such as Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and Paul Gauguin through his family business, Wildenstein & Company. In...
refers to these catalogues. Wildenstein's interest in pursuing the publishing of catalogues raisonnés was a way of giving back to the community and improving the knowledge of artists' work. The Wildenstein Institute (a non profit organization) founded by Daniel's father, Georges, in Paris would serve as the means to accomplish this latter goal. In 1993, Wildenstein also ventured into contemporary art by forming a partnership with
Arne GlimcherArnold "Arne" Glimcher is an American art dealer, film producer and director. He is the founder of The Pace Gallery and is widely known as one of the art world's most powerful dealers. Glimcher has also produced and directed several films, including The Mambo Kings and Just Cause.-Life and...
of Pace Gallery, thereby creating
PaceWildensteinThe Pace Gallery is a contemporary and modern art gallery founded by Arne Glimcher in Boston 1960 as The Pace Gallery. The gallery moved to Manhattan in 1963 and from 1993 to 2010 operated jointly with Wildenstein & Co. as PaceWildenstein. There are three locations in Manhattan and one in...
.
Wildenstein died in 2001 at the age of 84 in a Paris hospital following surgery complications, leaving his sons
AlecAlec Nathan Wildenstein was a billionaire French businessman, art dealer and racehorse owner and breeder.-Biography:...
and
Guy in charge of family affairs. He was also survived by his wife, née Sylvia Roth, and six grandchildren.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Wildenstein was a major figure in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an
horse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
who owned
Allez FranceAllez France was a French Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who was the first filly in Thoroughbred horse racing history to earn $1 million....
,
Peintre CelebrePeintre Celebre, , is a champion thoroughbred racehorse.Bred and owned by Daniel Wildenstein , the renowned French art dealer and highly successful horseman, Peintre Celebre came from a line of outstanding thoroughbreds. He was a son of Nureyev, France's champion miler in 1980, who was in turn the...
,
All AlongAll Along was a champion Thoroughbred racemare that was foaled in France. She was one of the top fillies of the last part of the 20th century, racing mostly in Europe.-Background:...
,
ArcanguesArcangues was a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire from France.The son of owner Daniel Wildenstein's 1984 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sagace, he was given the name of the village of Arcangues in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departement of the Aquitaine region...
,
SagaceSagace was a French Thoroughbred champion racehorse. His sire Luthier had been the Leading sire in France in 1976.Trained by Patrick Biancone and ridden by Yves St...
,
Jim FrenchJim French , was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Ralph Wilson, owner of the National Football League Buffalo Bills. He was by Graustark and out of Dinner Partner. Despite his first-rate pedigree, Jim French was small and dull brown.Trained by John P...
, and numerous other champion horses that won some of the most important races in
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.