Charles Loeser

Charles Alexander Loeser (January 11, 1864 – March 15, 1928) was an American art historian and art collector.

Life Charles Loeser was born in New York City on January 11, 1864, into a family of German origin: his father, Frederick Loeser (1833-1911), founded Frederick Loeser & Co. After completing his Master of Arts degree in Philosophy at Harvard University in 1888, Charles Loeser decided to travel to Europe and visit his friend and fellow Harvard alumnus, George Santayana.

Loeser settled in Florence in 1890, where he met and married German pianist Olga Lebert Kaufmann. He spent the rest of his life here collecting and studying Medieval and early Renaissance art and furniture. Loesser purchased his Villa Torri Gattaia, nestled in the Florentine hills behind San Miniato al Monte, around 1908 and started on renovations. In Florence, Loeser devoted himself to his studies and the collecting of works of art, and furniture that was flooding the market at the turn of the century.

Collection At his death, Loeser's collection totalled over 1,000 pieces. it contained over two hundred and fifty Old Master prints and drawings, numerous period furnishings, paintings, sculptures and works of applied art. Most were works of Italian Medieval and Renaissance art, but there were also contemporary works, such as a collection of Cézanne paintings. Loeser was one of the first collectors to appreciate Cézanne. The whole collection was characterized by the austere sobriety with which these precious antiques and works of art furnished the various rooms of the villa.

Loeser died at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel during a visit to New York on March 15, 1928, and was buried at Cimitero Evangelico agli Allori in Florence.