Gustav Rau

Gustav Rau (21 January 1922 – 3 January 2002) was a German medical doctor, philanthropist and art collector. Rau who was born and died in Stuttgart.

Life

Rau was born in Stuttgart in 1922 and was drafted into the Nazi Wehrmacht at 19. His father left him a large inheritance. Later, after selling the family business and completing his medical studies, he relocated to Africa.

He worked in Nigeria and the former Zaire, where he founded a hospital.

Foundations The Dr. Rau’sche Kunststiftung The Dr. Rau’sche Medizinalstiftung Rau Foundation for the Third World Crelona Stiftung

Art collector

According to The New York Times, he amassed one of the world's major private art collections, "second only in size to the Thyssen-Bronemisza collection in Madrid, his foundation said." In 2000 French courts ordered the seizure of Cézanne's “The sea at l’Estaque” which was part of the “From Fra Angelico to Bonnard: masterpieces from the Rau Collection” exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg because of a claim that it had been looted by Nazis from the gallery owner Josse Bernheim-Jeune

Exhibition in the Arp Museum Rolandseck

Catalogue of the collection