Dame Janet Frances de Botton, (
née Wolfson; formerly Green; born 31 March 1952
[Sunday Times Rich List 2007]
the year of birth is derived fro
) is a British art collector and philanthropist.
[
Janet de Botton is the eldest daughter of Lord Wolfson and his wife, Ruth (née Sterling), who married in 1949, and a granddaughter of Sir ]Isaac Wolfson
Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1st Baronet FRS (; 17 September 1897 – 20 June 1991) was a Scottish businessman and philanthropist. He was managing director of Great Universal Stores (G.U.S. or Gussies) 1932–1947 and chairman 1947–1987. He establish ...
, founder of the Great Universal Stores
GUS plc was an FTSE 100 retailing, manufacturing and financial conglomerate based in the United Kingdom. GUS was an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's name before 2001, while it was also known as the ''Glorious Gussies'' amon ...
family; she is the former wife of the broadcasting executive Michael Green. Her late husband, Swiss financier Gilbert de Botton, sold Global Asset Management
GAM Investments is an independent, pure play asset management group headquartered in Zurich. for £234m in 1999.
In June 2010, the Wolfson Foundation announced the appointment of de Botton as the new Chairman following a unanimous decision by the Trustees. De Botton has been a Trustee of Tate and Chairman of the Council of Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...
.
In 2007, she appeared at number 22 (down from number 18, in 2006) in the '' Sunday Times Rich List'', with an estimated personal fortune of £285 million.[ She is a prominent collector of modern art.]["Gilbert de Botton"]
''The Telegraph'', obituaries, 30 August 2000; accessed 17 March 2014. In 1996, she presented 60 works of art to the Tate, including examples by Carl Andre
Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures and for the suspected murder of contemporary and wife, Ana Mendieta. His sculptures range from large public art ...
, Richard Artschwager
Richard Ernst Artschwager (December 26, 1923 – February 9, 2013) was an American painter, illustrator and sculptor. His work has associations with Pop Art, Conceptual art and Minimalism.
Early life and art
Richard Artschwager was born to Euro ...
, Gilbert & George
Gilbert Prousch, sometimes referred to as Gilbert Proesch (born 17 September 1943 in San Martin de Tor, Italy), and George Passmore (born 8 January 1942 in Plymouth, United Kingdom), are two artists who work together as the collaborative art d ...
, Richard Long, Cindy Sherman
Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters.
Her breakthrough work is often co ...
, Roni Horn
Roni Horn (born September 25, 1955) is an American visual artist and writer. The granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants, she was born in New York City, where she lives and works. She is currently represented by Xavier Hufkens in Brussels an ...
, Gary Hume
Gary Stewart Hume (born 9 May 1962) is an English artist. Hume's work is strongly identified with the YBA who came to prominence in the early 1990s. Hume lives and works in London and Accord, New York. , Nancy Spero
Nancy Spero (August 24, 1926 – October 18, 2009) was an American visual artist. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Spero lived for much of her life in New York City. She married and collaborated with artist Leon Golub. As both artist and activist, Nancy ...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
and Bill Woodrow
Bill Woodrow (born 1 November 1948) is a British sculptor.
Early years and education
Bill Woodrow was born on 1 November 1948 near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. He received his education at the Winchester College of Art (1967–1968), the Ce ...
.
She was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in 2006 and elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours
The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...
for charitable services to the arts.
According to the '' Sunday Times Giving List'' in 2020'','' de Botton gave £65.1 million to charitable causes in 2019.
See also
* Wolfson family
The Wolfson family is a British Jewish family known for its business, philanthropic, and political activities. The family owes its initial fame to Sir Isaac Wolfson, who built the Great Universal Stores retail empire and created the Wolfson Found ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfson de Botton, Janet
1952 births
Living people
Art collectors from London
Philanthropists from London
Women philanthropists
English contract bridge players
English people of Polish-Jewish descent
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Daughters of life peers
Fellows of King's College London