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Adventures of a Chemist Collector
Born in Vienna, Alfred Bader fled to England at the age of fourteen, ten months before the outbreak of World War II. Although a Jewish refugee from the Nazis, he was interned in 1940, along with other 'enemy aliens', and sent to a Canadian prisoner-of-war camp.
Obtaining his release in 1941, he was accepted at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he studied engineering chemistry. There followed a fellowship in organic chemistry at Harvard. He worked in Milwaukee as a research chemist for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company and in 1951 co-founded Aldrich, which today, as Sigma-Aldrich, is the world's largest supplier of research chemicals.
He spent forty years building Aldrich's distinctive reputation, and the extraordinary story of how he was eventually thrown off the board of Sigma-Aldrich will be of key interest to people in the chemical industry worldwide, as well as to students of business.
After leaving Sigma-Aldrich, he continued a fruitful career as an art collector and dealer, and he has some very pertinent and amusing things to say about his experiences in the art world.
Obtaining his release in 1941, he was accepted at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he studied engineering chemistry. There followed a fellowship in organic chemistry at Harvard. He worked in Milwaukee as a research chemist for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company and in 1951 co-founded Aldrich, which today, as Sigma-Aldrich, is the world's largest supplier of research chemicals.
He spent forty years building Aldrich's distinctive reputation, and the extraordinary story of how he was eventually thrown off the board of Sigma-Aldrich will be of key interest to people in the chemical industry worldwide, as well as to students of business.
After leaving Sigma-Aldrich, he continued a fruitful career as an art collector and dealer, and he has some very pertinent and amusing things to say about his experiences in the art world.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1995
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 26, 2025
Bader was the son of a Jewish doctor and a Hungarian countess (whose family hated their new son-in-law and disapproved of the marriage). As a boy, Bader was fascinated by art, and he bought an old master drawing while still at a tender age. His parents thought he was crazy and took him to a psychiatrist, but the latter only admired the drawing and praised the boy's interest. World War II disrupted Bader's life, and he was forced to flee alone to Canada while still in his teens. Once there, he took a degree in chemistry and realized there was potential in the chemical supply business. He founded Sigma-Aldrich and achieved prosperity.
But much of Bader's interest was still wrapped up in art. He became a professional art dealer, haunting sales at Sotheby's and Christie's, and he specialized in the works of Rembrandt's students. Bader says the master's pupils were so talented that they really ought to be considered masters in their own right, and it's worth noting that there is a raging argument in the art world today about the correct attribution of many of Rembrandt's paintings. Rembrandt apparently had a habit of teaching his pupils a 'Rembrandtesque' style, and then selling these works as his own productions (which, by the way, was a common practice of painters. Shopwork produced by students with a few finishing touches by the master was considered to be a good way to earn a living by many a famous artist.)
Despite his success in life, Bader says he has a reading disability. His brain glitches and has trouble perceiving the center parts of words, which makes both reading and writing difficult for him, though you wouldn't know it from this memoir. Even so, Bader says he can remember the molecular structure of thousands of chemical compounds and the location and dates of thousands of paintings around the world. It's definitely an interesting quirk. Bader also tells the story of his discovery of a distant Bader cousin, who he finds out to his amazement is also an art dealer, (though only interested in modern artists) which leaves Bader wondering about bizarre coincidences and genes.
It's a good memoir, and worth a read.
But much of Bader's interest was still wrapped up in art. He became a professional art dealer, haunting sales at Sotheby's and Christie's, and he specialized in the works of Rembrandt's students. Bader says the master's pupils were so talented that they really ought to be considered masters in their own right, and it's worth noting that there is a raging argument in the art world today about the correct attribution of many of Rembrandt's paintings. Rembrandt apparently had a habit of teaching his pupils a 'Rembrandtesque' style, and then selling these works as his own productions (which, by the way, was a common practice of painters. Shopwork produced by students with a few finishing touches by the master was considered to be a good way to earn a living by many a famous artist.)
Despite his success in life, Bader says he has a reading disability. His brain glitches and has trouble perceiving the center parts of words, which makes both reading and writing difficult for him, though you wouldn't know it from this memoir. Even so, Bader says he can remember the molecular structure of thousands of chemical compounds and the location and dates of thousands of paintings around the world. It's definitely an interesting quirk. Bader also tells the story of his discovery of a distant Bader cousin, who he finds out to his amazement is also an art dealer, (though only interested in modern artists) which leaves Bader wondering about bizarre coincidences and genes.
It's a good memoir, and worth a read.
July 1, 2011
Alfred Bader fled from Vienna to England shortly before the outbreak of WWII and was sent from there to Canada, where he was interned briefly as a POW, despite being a Jewish refugee. After his release in 1941, he enrolled at Queen’s University in Ontario, where he earned a degree in chemistry, later completing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Harvard.
In 1951 he co-founded Aldrich Chemical Company, later Sigma-Aldrich, which by 1995 (the date the book was published) had become the world’s largest supplier of research chemicals.
Long a collector of Old Masters paintings, he pursued this hobby more vigorously after leaving Sigma-Aldrich in the early 1990s and continued his ongoing philanthropic activities.
Bader’s ADVENTURES OF A CHEMIST COLLECTOR is a fascinating account of his life and also sheds much light on the development of the chemical industry and the current state of the art market. Despite my not knowing much about art and nothing about chemistry, my interest never flagged, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting book about something they may not have thought about before.
In 1951 he co-founded Aldrich Chemical Company, later Sigma-Aldrich, which by 1995 (the date the book was published) had become the world’s largest supplier of research chemicals.
Long a collector of Old Masters paintings, he pursued this hobby more vigorously after leaving Sigma-Aldrich in the early 1990s and continued his ongoing philanthropic activities.
Bader’s ADVENTURES OF A CHEMIST COLLECTOR is a fascinating account of his life and also sheds much light on the development of the chemical industry and the current state of the art market. Despite my not knowing much about art and nothing about chemistry, my interest never flagged, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting book about something they may not have thought about before.
February 4, 2015
Having been a past customer of Sigma-Aldrich fine chemicals, I was absolutely delighted to discover this book. This is not merely a tale of selling novel fine chemicals. It is a really good exposition on how a company was created, and grew, to very successfully fulfil and further develop the needs of its new and rapidly growing market.
The final twist in the tale leads into a fascinating section where the reader is asked to confront the question of what to do with all of those profits. Alfred Bader developed a highly knowledgeable passion and interest as a collector of Old Master paintings: a number of which he ‘shared’ through reproducing them on the cover of the firm’s (annual, thick) product catalogue. Yet at no point does he become insufferably proud and self-centred; choosing instead to humbly and heart-warmingly share his good fortune through significant acts of personal philanthropy.
Many years ago I took a job offered by a limited partnership, rather than take up the invitation of a second interview with Sigma-Aldrich. I’m beginning to wish I’d gone to that second interview! But such is Life.
The final twist in the tale leads into a fascinating section where the reader is asked to confront the question of what to do with all of those profits. Alfred Bader developed a highly knowledgeable passion and interest as a collector of Old Master paintings: a number of which he ‘shared’ through reproducing them on the cover of the firm’s (annual, thick) product catalogue. Yet at no point does he become insufferably proud and self-centred; choosing instead to humbly and heart-warmingly share his good fortune through significant acts of personal philanthropy.
Many years ago I took a job offered by a limited partnership, rather than take up the invitation of a second interview with Sigma-Aldrich. I’m beginning to wish I’d gone to that second interview! But such is Life.
May 21, 2008
A biography of the creater of Aldrich, a fine-chemicals supplier (Now Sigma-Aldrich).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews