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拍品专文
My abiding memory of Dr Sommer was in Monaco for the Karl Lagerfeld sale. We had talked about works of art on the telephone on many occasions and with characteristic generosity, he suggested we had dinner. As I sat in the sumptuous surroundings of Alain Ducasse's restaurant Louis XV, with its rococo boiseries and chandeliers, a tall, patrician figure with immaculately-cut suit and flowing hair swept into the room. He insisted that we indulge extravagantly - and over the next three hours we embarked on a gastronomic feast punctuated with pithy comments on every conceivable topic - from Brussels and macroeconomics to the relative merits of Savonnerie and Gobelins, BVRB and Riesener, Gouthière and Boucher and Fragonard, interspersed with opera, wine and considerable cynicism of the machinations of markets! It was a conversational grand tour - but it underlined Dr Sommer's extraordinary breadth of knowledge, epicurean enthusiasms and wisdom, as well as his zest for life.
Peter D. Sommer was born on 16 March 1940 in Berlin. The family was of fairly humble origins and from a very young age he and his older sister Rosie sold newspapers after the Second World War to help their mother make ends meet. This early experience of working life imbued the young Peter Sommer with a strong work ethic and a sense of ambition. He forged what was to become a very successful career in finance from the age of 14 when he became an apprentice at a German bank, later studying economics at evening classes and subsequently gaining his doctorate. He worked in Berlin, Hamburg and other German cities, until he bought a small financial company in Munich in 1973. Dr Sommer remodelled and expanded the company’s operations into public finance, specialising mainly in bonds, to great success. He sold his majority stake in the company in 1987 and the following year moved to Upper Grosvenor Street in London, with the intention of travelling the world. A committed devotee of classical music – especially Beethoven and Mozart along with Schubert and Wagner – his travels often embraced the Bayreuth Wagner Music Festival, Salzburg and Glyndebourne, as well as the Vienna Opera Ball and the Berlin Press Ball.
Dr Sommer’s collecting was greatly inspired by Frederick the Great (lot 212), whom he admired for his patronage of the arts as well as his strength of character; indeed one of his earliest purchases was a portrait of the German king (not included in the auction but on view on the First Floor). Like his hero, Dr Sommer admired the great Old Masters of mid-18th century France, such as Boucher, Watteau and Pater, and favoured their ‘fêtes galantes’ and mythological figures (lots 50, 103 & 104). Epitomising the Fredrician ‘rokoko’ and undoubtedly drawn by the link to the Prussian King, Dr Sommer purchased a pair of 'Potsdam' armchairs attributed to Frederick the Great's carver Johann-August Nahl that closely recall those commissioned by the King for his residences of Sanssouci, Charlottenburg and the Neue Palais (lots 130). These were placed in the First Floor study, where Dr Sommer sat daily with the Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung, casting admiring glances at the wonderful Gobelins tapestry depicting the Ball of Barcelona from the Don Quixote series (lot 85). Amongst his most treasured possessions were three exquisite tables en chiffonnière by Bernard II van Risen Burgh – known as ‘BVRB’ – whom he regarded as the greatest ‘ébéniste’ of the Louis XV period (lots 115-7). The First Floor study also contained glimmering silver-gilt dishes and lampes bouillotte by Odiot, a pair of elegant commodes by Charles Cressent, early Louis XV giltwood chairs covered in luxurious pomegranate-pattern Lelievre silk – selected by Dr Sommer himself – and a garniture of ormolu candelabra formerly in the Rosebery/Rothschild Collections at Mentmore. Amongst other favourite possessions in his collection was the painting entitled ‘Paysage et tête de femme’ by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (lot 78), the set of six grand Viennese giltwood armchairs with seats and backs of Beauvais tapestry depicting La Fontaine’s Fables (lots 26-8), and the magnificent Louis XV regulateur formerly in the collection of the Viennese Rothschilds (lot 25).
Dr Sommer’s enthusiasm for his collection was contagious - and his pursuit of knowledge of all things 18th Century led him to develop friendships with many of the leading figures in the decorative arts field, including, amongst others, Jacques Perrin, Maurice Segoura and Chevalier in Paris, as well as Neuse, Gierhards and Bernheimer in Germany. He monitored the art market closely – regularly reading the Bulletins of the English and Continental salerooms late into the night and scanning the auctions for new treasures - as well as those that related to works of art in his own collection. Above all, Dr Sommer had a deep appreciation of craftsmanship and quality, irrespective of period. As a consequence, he delighted in patronising the finest ateliers and boutiques – whether for gilding or passementerie, upholstery or jewellery – commissioning monogrammed crocodile skin luggage from Hermès (lots 193-200) and unique works by the Munich jeweller Hemmerle (lot 109) alongside specially woven fabrics after 18th century patterns by Lelievre and specialist gilding by Goujon.
Dr Sommer was immensely proud of all that he had created in Upper Grosvenor Street – and rightly so. It is very fitting, therefore, that the viewing in November will allow connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike to see this spectacular ensemble in situ in his house in Mayfair.
Orlando Rock
November 2014
Peter D. Sommer was born on 16 March 1940 in Berlin. The family was of fairly humble origins and from a very young age he and his older sister Rosie sold newspapers after the Second World War to help their mother make ends meet. This early experience of working life imbued the young Peter Sommer with a strong work ethic and a sense of ambition. He forged what was to become a very successful career in finance from the age of 14 when he became an apprentice at a German bank, later studying economics at evening classes and subsequently gaining his doctorate. He worked in Berlin, Hamburg and other German cities, until he bought a small financial company in Munich in 1973. Dr Sommer remodelled and expanded the company’s operations into public finance, specialising mainly in bonds, to great success. He sold his majority stake in the company in 1987 and the following year moved to Upper Grosvenor Street in London, with the intention of travelling the world. A committed devotee of classical music – especially Beethoven and Mozart along with Schubert and Wagner – his travels often embraced the Bayreuth Wagner Music Festival, Salzburg and Glyndebourne, as well as the Vienna Opera Ball and the Berlin Press Ball.
Dr Sommer’s collecting was greatly inspired by Frederick the Great (lot 212), whom he admired for his patronage of the arts as well as his strength of character; indeed one of his earliest purchases was a portrait of the German king (not included in the auction but on view on the First Floor). Like his hero, Dr Sommer admired the great Old Masters of mid-18th century France, such as Boucher, Watteau and Pater, and favoured their ‘fêtes galantes’ and mythological figures (lots 50, 103 & 104). Epitomising the Fredrician ‘rokoko’ and undoubtedly drawn by the link to the Prussian King, Dr Sommer purchased a pair of 'Potsdam' armchairs attributed to Frederick the Great's carver Johann-August Nahl that closely recall those commissioned by the King for his residences of Sanssouci, Charlottenburg and the Neue Palais (lots 130). These were placed in the First Floor study, where Dr Sommer sat daily with the Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung, casting admiring glances at the wonderful Gobelins tapestry depicting the Ball of Barcelona from the Don Quixote series (lot 85). Amongst his most treasured possessions were three exquisite tables en chiffonnière by Bernard II van Risen Burgh – known as ‘BVRB’ – whom he regarded as the greatest ‘ébéniste’ of the Louis XV period (lots 115-7). The First Floor study also contained glimmering silver-gilt dishes and lampes bouillotte by Odiot, a pair of elegant commodes by Charles Cressent, early Louis XV giltwood chairs covered in luxurious pomegranate-pattern Lelievre silk – selected by Dr Sommer himself – and a garniture of ormolu candelabra formerly in the Rosebery/Rothschild Collections at Mentmore. Amongst other favourite possessions in his collection was the painting entitled ‘Paysage et tête de femme’ by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (lot 78), the set of six grand Viennese giltwood armchairs with seats and backs of Beauvais tapestry depicting La Fontaine’s Fables (lots 26-8), and the magnificent Louis XV regulateur formerly in the collection of the Viennese Rothschilds (lot 25).
Dr Sommer’s enthusiasm for his collection was contagious - and his pursuit of knowledge of all things 18th Century led him to develop friendships with many of the leading figures in the decorative arts field, including, amongst others, Jacques Perrin, Maurice Segoura and Chevalier in Paris, as well as Neuse, Gierhards and Bernheimer in Germany. He monitored the art market closely – regularly reading the Bulletins of the English and Continental salerooms late into the night and scanning the auctions for new treasures - as well as those that related to works of art in his own collection. Above all, Dr Sommer had a deep appreciation of craftsmanship and quality, irrespective of period. As a consequence, he delighted in patronising the finest ateliers and boutiques – whether for gilding or passementerie, upholstery or jewellery – commissioning monogrammed crocodile skin luggage from Hermès (lots 193-200) and unique works by the Munich jeweller Hemmerle (lot 109) alongside specially woven fabrics after 18th century patterns by Lelievre and specialist gilding by Goujon.
Dr Sommer was immensely proud of all that he had created in Upper Grosvenor Street – and rightly so. It is very fitting, therefore, that the viewing in November will allow connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike to see this spectacular ensemble in situ in his house in Mayfair.
Orlando Rock
November 2014