Édouard André (art collector)

Édouard François André
Portrait of Édouard André, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André.
Born	13 December 1833
Died	16 July 1894
Residence	Paris
Nationality	French
Occupation	Banker, politician, soldier and art collector
Known for	Art Collector, Founder of Courtauld Institute
Spouse(s)	Nélie Jacquemart-André
Parent(s)	Ernest André

Édouard François André (1833–1894) was a French banker, politician, soldier and art collector. He was the husband of Nélie Jacquemart-André, the society painter. Their art collection is preserved at the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris.^[1]

Biography

Son to Ernest André (1803-1864), Edouard André was born into a family of rich banker Protestants, native to the Southeast of France (Nîmes dans le Gard), who flourished during the Second Empire.

In Firm support of Napoleon III and sensitive to the Saint-Simonian ideas, the Andrew family was involved in financing the modernization of France and large companies of the imperial regime.^[2]

He succeeded his father as MP Gard, elected May 29, 1864. Re-elected May 23, 1869, he served until September 4, 1870.^[3] Edouard André lost his mother at the age of two.

Hw built a collection of paintings, furniture and artful objects. After the fall of the Second Empire, he joined the National Guard in 1871. He negotiated with the Rothschilds, the contribution that France must pay to Germany after the surrender and brings together in a short time the necessary amount. Disappointed by politics, he decided to devote himself exclusively to his collections. In 1868, he sought the architect Henri Parent to design mansion of grandiose proportions on a plot of 158 m2 for 1.5 million francs.

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