José Lázaro Galdiano

José Lázaro Galdiano (1862–1947) was a Spanish financier, journalist, publisher and art collector, who, by the time of his death, owned one of the largest and most significant art collections in Spain. He was described in 1940 as "one of the greatest patrons of culture in nineteenth century Spain". At the time of his death, his collection numbered some 12,600 pieces, mostly from the Old Master and Romantic periods - he had little interest in the Modernists.

Life 1912 portrait of Paula Florido by Pablo de Bejar. Museo Lázaro Galdiano

Lázaro was born in 1862 in Beire, Navarre. He studied Law and Philosophy in Seville and Madrid before taking office in 1883 at the Bank of Spain in Barcelona. However, his talent and ability in art appreciation and journalism soon took his career in another direction.