Leonard Lauder, the son of cosmetics entrepreneurs Estée and Joseph H. Lauder and a significant artwork philanthropist, died Saturday on the age of 92, Estée Lauder Firms announced in a press release.
Lauder held the title of chairman emeritus on the firm at his demise, although he had beforehand served as president from 1972 to 1995 and CEO from 1982 to 1999. He served as chairman from 1995 to 2009.
Lauder was the eldest son of Estée, who based the corporate in 1946 and helped construct it into behemoth over his many a long time working there. In accordance with the New York Times, the corporate’s gross sales grew from $800,000 per yr from when he joined in 1958 to over $16 billion as of 2021. Lauder’s private fortune grew throughout that point to round $11.5 billion, making him one of many 100 richest People.
Lauder’s different ardour was artwork. He was a longtime philanthropist of the humanities, with a very deep and fruitful relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork in New York. In 2013, he gifted 81 items of Cubist work, sculptures, and collages, together with works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Fernand Léger, and Juan Gris. The Leonard A. Lauder Assortment was the results of 40 years of gathering, and was estimated to be value over $1 billion.
As Lauder advised the New York Times on the time of the donation, “You may’t put collectively a very good assortment until you might be targeted, disciplined, tenacious, and prepared to pay greater than you’ll be able to presumably afford.”
Even after making the donation, he continued to assist the museum. In fall 2018, the Met acquired the Gris nonetheless life The Musician’s Desk (1914) with assist from Lauder. The portray was supplied at Christie’s New York that yr from the gathering of Peggy and David Rockefeller in New York. With a profitable bid from Lauder of $31.8 million, it was one of many prime heaps on the sale.
He later added 5 further main works to that present and his philanthropy helped set up the Leonard A. Lauder Analysis Middle for Fashionable Artwork on the museum, which supports a robust program of movie screenings, lectures, fellowships, and analysis exhibitions.
In an announcement on the time, Max Hollein, director of the Met, praised Lauder for his contributions to the Met’s holdings, saying that “there isn’t a one who higher exemplifies the spirit of giving that has fostered the expansion of the Met and the advantages it gives to the general public than Leonard A. Lauder.” In response, Lauder stated, “I’m impressed by earlier generations of supporters who’ve contributed to creating the Met’s collections among the many biggest on this planet.”
Lauder additionally held the title of chairman emeritus on the Whitney Museum and was a trustee at that museum from 1977 to 2011.
“All through his life, my father labored tirelessly to construct and rework the sweetness business, pioneering most of the improvements, developments, and greatest practices which might be foundational to the business at the moment,” William P. Lauder, his son and the chair of Estée Lauder stated in an announcement. “He was essentially the most charitable man I’ve ever recognized, believing that artwork and training belonged to everybody, and championing the struggle towards illnesses comparable to Alzheimer’s and breast most cancers. Above all, my father was a person who practiced kindness with everybody he met. His influence was huge. He believed that workers have been the center and soul of our firm, and so they adored him and moments spent with him. His heat and thoughtfulness made an imprint on our firm, the business, and, after all, our household. Along with my household, The Estée Lauder Firms, and the numerous folks he touched, we have a good time his extraordinary life.”
Lauder was born in 1933 in New York Metropolis, the place he attended the Bronx Excessive Faculty of Science. He later graduated from College of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Faculty. He served as a lieutenant within the US Navy and acquired a graduate diploma from Columbia College’s Graduate Faculty of Enterprise.
He appeared on 25 consecutive editions of the ARTnews High 200 Collectors checklist, rating annually between 1990 and 2024.
