At Auction, the Treasures of a Tycoon War-Hero

The New York Times ^ | April 8, 2011 | Souren Melikian

[Cincinna]

PARIS — The memorable auction of the late Paul-Louis Weiller’s objects conducted this week at Drouot by the Gros & Delettrez group is one of those events that signal the end of a period in the cultural life of a nation.

Ever since the 1789 Revolution, succeeding generations of the French establishment sought to reconstruct in their residences an environment in which the 17th- and 18th-century styles set the tone. Mr. Weiller, who died in 1993 at age 100, was the archetypal Parisian haute bourgeoisie figure. Driven by a vivid desire to impress, he enjoyed the wealth needed to that end.

[Cincinna]

The end of an era indeed! Glossed over by the NYT: this was a decorated war hero forced to flee his own country by the Nazis who confiscated his property & threw his relatives in concentration camps.

This is a Holocaust story as much as an auction/art history story.

[Cincinna]

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[tanuki]

A bit of a shame he that he felt the need to impress through possessions. His war record alone should have been validation enough for any man he encountered.

[afraidfortherepublic]

If you enjoy beautiful things and have the means to possess them, what is shameful about that? You have a great opportunity to pass your appreciation on to another generation. His heroism was another dimension of this Renaissance man.

George Washington outfitted his home with many beautiful artifacts. That did not make him less a military hero.

[tanuki]

I absolutely agree, there’s nothing wrong with the enjoyment of possessions. If I sounded like I was being judgmental, I assure you it was unintentional.

It is the perceived need to aggrandize oneself through possessions that I disagree with. If he collected for the love of things, more power to him. If he amassed things to establish a station of life-well, I can’t say I dislike it, only that I sadly disagree. I think we should let the content of our lives stand for what they are, not for what we acquire. And his life had riches no amount of money could buy.

[SunkenCiv]

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