The John Schaeffer Gallery at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

John Herman Schaeffer (1941 – 14 July 2020) was a Dutch-born Australian art collector, philanthropist and businessman. Schaeffer predominantly collected 19th-century British art, specialising in works by the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

. Schaeffer emigrated to Australia from the Netherlands in the late 1950s, working as a ship's steward. In Australia Schaeffer established a security and cleaning company, Tempo Services Ltd., which he later sold. In 2004 Schaeffer sold '' Rona'', previously the most expensive house in Sydney, which he had acquired in 1989. Schaeffer initially collected 19th-century Australian paintings, but was entranced by the 1984 exhibition ''The Pre-Raphaelites'' at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

. His initial art purchases in the 1970s were Australian paintings by

Rupert Bunny Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 186425 May 1947) was an Australian painter. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in '' fin-de-siècle'' Paris. He gained an honourable mentio ...

E. Phillips Fox Emanuel Phillips Fox (12 March 1865 – 8 October 1915) was an Australian impressionism, impressionist painter. After studying at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School in Melbourne, Fox travelled to Paris to study in 1886. He remained in ...

and John Russell. Three paintings from Schaeffer's collection (all purchases) are in the permanent collection of the

Leighton House Museum The Leighton House Museum is an art museum in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. The building was the London home of painter Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896), who commi ...

Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that contains a street and public park of the same name. It has no official boundaries but is roughly bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road ...

, West London. The restoration of the gilded ceiling of the Narcissus Hall at Leighton House was also supported by Schaeffer. Schaeffer's art collection held 200 pieces at its peak, but was greatly diminished by business debts and the financial effects of his divorce. Together with his partner, Bettina Dalton, Schaeffer was a part-owner of the

British Movietone Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Australia and New Zealand until 1970 ...

Archive. Schaeffer was a board member of the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Foundation, as well as a board member and Life Governor of the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

. Schaeffer died at St Vincent's Hospital on 14 July 2020 at the age of 79 after being hit by a utility vehicle on Macquarie Street in central Sydney.Former Rich Lister John Schaeffer dies after being hit by ute
/ref> He is survived by his partner of 18 years Bettina Dalton.

References

1941 births 2020 deaths Australian art collectors Australian company founders Dutch emigrants to Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Road incident deaths in New South Wales {{Australia-business-bio-stub