Jules Bache
American banker, art collector (1861–1944)
title: "Jules Bache" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1861-births", "1944-deaths", "american-art-collectors", "american-bankers", "american-financiers", "american-people-of-german-jewish-descent", "philanthropists-from-new-york-(state)", "burials-at-woodlawn-cemetery-(bronx,-new-york)", "businesspeople-from-new-york-city", "jewish-art-collectors", "1920-united-states-presidential-electors"] description: "American banker, art collector (1861–1944)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Bache" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American banker, art collector (1861–1944) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Jules Bache.jpg |
| caption | Bache in 1911 |
| birth_name | Jules Semon Bache |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | New York City |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Palm Beach, Florida |
| nationality | American |
| spouse | |
| occupation | Banker |
| children | Kathryn Bache Miller |
| family | Gilbert Miller (son-in-law) |
| signature | Signature of Jules Semon Bache.png |
| :: |
| image = Jules Bache.jpg | image_size = | caption = Bache in 1911 | birth_name = Jules Semon Bache | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City | death_date = | death_place = Palm Beach, Florida | death_cause = | nationality = American | education = | spouse = | occupation = Banker | children = Kathryn Bache Miller | family = Gilbert Miller (son-in-law) | signature = Signature of Jules Semon Bache.png
Jules Semon Bache (November 9, 1861 – March 24, 1944) was an American banker, art collector and philanthropist.
Early life
Jules Bache was born into a Jewish family in New York City. His father, Semon Bache [né Bach], emigrated to the United States from his native Nuremberg, Bavaria, settling in New York City, where he started the glassmaking firm Semon Bache & Company.
Career
In 1881, he started work as a cashier at Leopold Cahn & Co., a stockbrokerage firm founded by his uncle. In 1886, he was made a minority partner, and in 1892, he took full control of the business, renaming it J. S. Bache & Co. Jules Bache built the company into one of the top brokerage houses in the United States, outranked only by Merrill Lynch. In the process, he became an immensely wealthy individual, a patron of the arts, and a philanthropist.
During World War I, Jules Bache donated money to the American Field Service in France, and his wife was the honorary treasurer of the "War Babies' Cradle," a charity that provided aid for mothers and children in distress in war-torn Northern France and Belgium to provide them with food, clothing, heating fuel, and medical care.
In the 1920 presidential election, Bache was a presidential elector for Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.
Jules Bache was a shareholder of a number of prominent corporations and sat on the boards of directors of many of them. Among his personal holdings, Bache had sizeable interests in Canadian mining companies. His equity in these companies was held by his Bahamas-based corporation, which allowed him to legally avoid some of the high personal U.S. surtaxes, a fact for which he would be publicly criticized as a result of the Federal investigations during the 1930s into the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Bache, however, believed that high taxation was a hindrance to economic growth and published a booklet titled "Release business from the slavery of taxation." A major shareholder in Dome Mines Limited, Bache served as company president from 1919 until 1942 and was Chairman of the Board at the time of his passing. After the brokerage firm of Dillon, Read & Co. acquired the Dodge Brothers Automobile Company in 1923, Jules Bache acquired a substantial position in Chrysler Corporation.
A supporter of American theater and Broadway, Jules Bache helped found the New York branch of the Escholier Club in 1941.[[File:Jules Bache Mausoleum 1024.jpg|thumb|300px|The mausoleum of Jules Bache]]
Personal life and death
Bache married Florence R. Scheftel on May 23, 1892, and they had two daughters.
Jules Bache died in 1944 in Palm Beach, Florida, and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. His tomb is a replica of Trajan's Kiosk at Philae. In 1927, his daughter, Kathryn Bache Miller, married the theatrical producer Gilbert Miller in Paris, France. His granddaughter, Muriel Bache Richards, married Francis Warren Pershing, the son of General John J. Pershing.
He told the Literary Digest his name was pronounced Baitch, "A rhyme with aitch." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)
Art collection
In addition to his high profile in the business world, Jules Bache would also become well known for his art collecting, which received much press attention in 1929 when he purchased the portrait of "Giuliano de Medici," then attributed to Raphael. He would acquire numerous other important works, including those by or attributed to Rembrandt, Titian (including The Bache Madonna), Albrecht Dürer, Diego Velázquez, Gerard David, Giovanni Bellini, and Sandro Botticelli, amongst others.
In 1937, he opened his magnificent art collection to the public. In 1943 the Second World War forced closure of his museum and the collection was loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which had put its own masterworks into protective storage. In 1943, he donated some of his works to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Bache was a major donor to the Department of Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
At the time of his death in 1944, most of his picture collection, up until that time gifted to the Jules Bache Foundation, was given to the Museum; the remaining works of art from his estate at 814 Fifth Avenue were sold at auction. ::data[format=table]
| image | title | painter | date | accession number | The Met url |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Madonna and Child with Saints MET DP104372.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna and Child with Saints | Giovanni Bellini | |
| [[File:Madonna and Child MET DT301874.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna and Child | Workshop of Giovanni Bellini | 1510 |
| [[File:Jacometto Veneziano 001.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Young Man | Jacometto Veneziano | |
| [[File:The Coronation of the Virgin MET DT350031.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Coronation of the Virgin | Follower of Botticelli | 1500s |
| [[File:Carlo Crivelli 068.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna Lenti | Carlo Crivelli | 1472 |
| [[File:Uccello Portrait of a Lady MET.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Woman | Master of the Castello Nativity | 1450s |
| [[File:Francesco Sassetti (1421–1490) and His Son Teodoro MET DT1369.jpg | center | 128px]] | Francesco Sassetti and His Son Teodoro | Domenico Ghirlandaio | 1488s |
| [[File:Descent from cross Tempera and gold leaf.jpg | center | 128px]] | Descent from the Cross | Girolamo da Cremona | |
| [[File:Fra Filippo Lippi 012.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna and Child Enthroned with Two Angels | Filippo Lippi | 1440s |
| [[File:Madonna and Child MET DP243637.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna and Child | Filippino Lippi | 1483s |
| [[File:Rodolfo Gonzaga (1451–1495) MET EP358.jpg | center | 128px]] | Rodolfo Gonzaga (1451–1495) | Style of Andrea Mantegna | 1500s |
| [[File:Giuliano de' Medici (1479–1516), Duke of Nemours MET DP265692.jpg | center | 128px]] | Giuliano de' Medici (1479–1516), Duke of Nemours | Copy after Raphael | 1600s |
| [[File:Madonna and Child MET DT1344.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna and Child | Luca Signorelli | |
| [[File:Portrait of a Man MET ep49.7.14.bw.R.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Man | Lambert Sustris | |
| [[File:Madonna and Child MET DT5274.jpg | center | 128px]] | Madonna and Child | Titian | 1510 |
| [[File:Venus and Adonis MET DT5111.jpg | center | 128px]] | Venus and Adonis | Titian | 1560 |
| [[File:Cosmè Tura - Flight to Egypt (from the predella of the Roverella Polyptych) - WGA23121.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Flight into Egypt | Cosimo Tura | |
| [[File:Virgin and Child MET ep49.7.18.bw.R.jpg | center | 128px]] | Virgin and Child | Workshop of Dieric Bouts | 1475 |
| [[File:Christus carthusian.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Carthusian | Petrus Christus | 1446 |
| [[File:Gerard David - Triptych with the Nativity - WGA06016.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Nativity with Donors and Saints Jerome and Leonard | Gerard David | |
| [[File:Gerard David - The rest on the flight into Egypt (Metropolitan Museum of Art).jpg | center | 128px]] | The Rest on the Flight into Egypt | Gerard David | 1513s |
| [[File:Virgin and Child MET DT245520.jpg | center | 128px]] | Virgin and Child | Workshop of Hans Memling | 1490 |
| [[File:Young Woman with a Pink MET DT200206.jpg | center | 128px]] | Young Woman with a Pink | Hans Memling | 1485 |
| [[File:Portrait of a Man in a Turban DT200207.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Man in a Turban | Netherlandish Painter | 1460s |
| [[File:Anthony van Dyck - Self portrait.jpg | center | 128px]] | Anthony van Dyck self portrait (Metropolitan Museum of Art) | Anthony van Dyck | 1620 |
| [[File:Robert Rich by van Dyck.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of Robert Rich, second earl of Warwick | Anthony van Dyck | 1634 |
| [[File:Portrait of an Italian Woman MET DP280389.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of an Italian Woman | German painter | 1600s |
| [[File:Portrait of a Man (Sir Ralph Sadler?) MET DP278970.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Man (Sir Ralph Sadler?) | Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger | 1535 |
| [[File:Derich Berck, by Hans Holbein.jpg | center | 128px]] | Derick Berck of Cologne | Hans Holbein the Younger | 1536 |
| [[File:Portrait of a Young Woman MET DP280856.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Young Woman | Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger | 1540 |
| [[File:Edward VI (1537–1553), When Duke of Cornwall MET DP164833.jpg | center | 128px]] | Edward VI (1537–1553), When Duke of Cornwall | Workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger | 1545 |
| [[File:Portrait of a Young Woman MET DP321072.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Young Woman | an anonymous Netherlandish painter | 1535 |
| [[File:Frans Hals - Claes Duyst van Voorhout.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of Claes Duyst van Voorhout | Frans Hals | 1638 |
| [[File:Portrait of a Bearded Man with a Ruff by Frans Hals.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Bearded Man with a Ruff | Frans Hals | 1625 |
| [[File:The Standard Bearer (Floris Soop, 1604–1657), by Rembrandt van Rijn.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of Floris Soop | Rembrandt | 1654 |
| [[File:Rembrandt A Presumed Sketch for the Male Sitter in the ‘Jewish Bride’.jpg | center | 128px]] | Man in a Red Cloak | Rembrandt | 1650s |
| [[File:Rembrandt The Apostle James the Less.jpg | center | 128px]] | Christ with a Staff | Rembrandt | 1661 |
| [[File:Gerard ter Borch (II) - Curiosity - WGA22128.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Curious | Gerard ter Borch | 1660 |
| [[File:Portrait of a Young Boy MET ep49.7.39.bw.R.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Young Boy | Sébastien Bourdon | 1700s |
| [[File:A Young Woman Reading MET DP143178.jpg | center | 128px]] | A Young Woman Reading | Han van Meegeren | 1926s |
| [[File:Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zúñiga.jpg | center | 128px]] | Don Manuel Osorio de Zúñiga | Francisco Goya | 1787 |
| [[File:Portrait of a Man MET DP221248.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Man | Diego Velázquez | 1630s |
| [[File:Velazquez-TeresaNY51.jpg | center | 128px]] | María Teresa (1638–1683), Infanta of Spain | Diego Velázquez | 1651 |
| [[File:Charles de Cossé (1506–1563), Comte de Brissac MET ep49.7.44.bw.R.jpg | center | 128px]] | Charles de Cossé (1506–1563), Comte de Brissac | Corneille de Lyon | 1600s |
| [[File:Portrait of a Man with a Black-Plumed Hat MET ep49.7.45.bw.R.jpg | center | 128px]] | Portrait of a Man with a Black-Plumed Hat | Corneille de Lyon | 1535 |
| [[File:François Boucher - Le sommeil interrompu.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Interrupted Sleep | François Boucher | 1750 |
| [[File:Marie Rinteau, called Mademoiselle de Verrières MET DP-406-01.jpg | center | 128px]] | Marie Rinteau, called Mademoiselle de Verrières | François-Hubert Drouais | 1761 |
| [[File:Boy with a Black Spaniel MET DP324600.jpg | center | 128px]] | Boy with a Black Spaniel | François-Hubert Drouais | |
| [[File:Jean-Honoré Fragonard - La lettre d'amour.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Love Letter | Jean-Honoré Fragonard | 1770s |
| [[File:The Cascade MET DP-1015-001.jpg | center | 128px]] | The Cascade | Jean-Honoré Fragonard | |
| [[File:A Shaded Avenue (Fragonard).jpg | center | 128px]] | A Shaded Avenue | Jean-Honoré Fragonard | |
| [[File:Jean Baptiste Joseph Pater 1730.JPG | center | 128px]] | The Fair at Bezons | Jean-Baptiste Pater | |
| [[File:Alexandre Charles Emmanuel de Crussol-Florensac (1743–1815) MET DP320090.jpg | center | 128px]] | Alexandre Charles Emmanuel de Crussol-Florensac (1743–1815) | Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun | 1787 |
| [[File:Antoine Watteau - Actors from the Comédie Française - WGA25475.jpg | center | 128px]] | The French Comedians | Antoine Watteau | |
| [[File:Queen Charlotte MET DP162155.jpg | center | 128px]] | Queen Charlotte | Thomas Gainsborough | |
| [[File:Anne Elizabeth Cholmley (1769–1788), Later Lady Mulgrave MET DP169398.jpg | center | 128px]] | Anne Elizabeth Cholmley (1769–1788), Later Lady Mulgrave | Gainsborough Dupont | |
| [[File:Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (1753–1797), Countess of Derby.jpg | center | 128px]] | Lady Elizabeth Hamilton (1753–1797), Countess of Derby | George Romney | |
| [[File:Henri d'Albret (1503–55), King of Navarre MET DT572.jpg | center | 128px]] | Henri d'Albret (1503–55), King of Navarre | enamels highlighted in The MET collection | 1556 |
| Jules Semon Bache | Jo Davidson | 1936 | 49.7.120 | MET | |
| :: |
References
References
- [http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/social-history/2008/best-friends-jewish-society-in-old-palm-beach New York Social Diary: "Best Friends: Jewish Society in Old Palm Beach"] 2008
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=w1xAAQAAMAAJ&dq=jules+bache&pg=PA396 The American Hebrew: "Jule S. Bache Operated On] February 17, 1922
- "Jules Bache". [[Harvard University]].
- "Semon BACHE b. 1826 Nuremberg, Bavaria d. 1891 New York".
- Hall, Henry. (1895). "America's Successful Men of Affairs: The city of New York". [[New York Tribune]].
- (1921). "Proceedings of the Electoral College of the State of New York, 1921". J. B. Lyon Company.
- (1910). "The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography". James T. White & Company.
- (October 16, 1979). "Kathryn B. Miller, Philanthropist, 83". [[The New York Times]].
- (July 17, 1927). "Miss Bache Weds Gilbert Miller". The New York Times.
- (May 2, 1938). "The General Attends a Wedding - His Son Marries Muriel Bache Richards". [[Time (magazine).
- Hilker, Anne. (2024). "The art of rivalry: The Jules S. Bache collection, its formation and its donation to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1919–44". Journal of the History of Collections.
- "Finding aid for the Preston Remington records, 1925–1970". Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- (April 1, 1945). "Jules S. Bache Art Collection is Going on Sale: Works Not Donated to the Metropolitan Museum To Be Sold April 19, 20, 21 }} The auction was held at the Kende Galleries of [[Gimbels". New York Herald Tribune.
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