110525

Alfred Hirsch 1922

Half-length, head turned and looking to the left, wearing a dark suit and tie

Oil on canvas, [dimensions unknown]

Indistinctly inscribed: de László / LONDON

Laib L12098 (658)/ C12 (26)                

NPG 1923 Album p. 453

Sitters’ Book II, f. 32: A Hirsch Dec. 27th 1922

Private Collection

According to his Sitters’ Book, de László painted this portrait of Alfred Hirsch and another of his wife, Elizabeth Gottschalk de Hirsch [110526] in 1922, though the latter portrait is dated 1923. These portraits are known only from photographs. He painted them again in 1933 [110685] and [10171]. Both portraits are now in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires. A third portrait, made of the sitters' daughter, Leonor Matilde [110527] also in 1933, remains in a private collection.

Alfred Hirsch was born on 12 June 1872 at Leutershausen in Mannheim, Germany to Leopold and Matilde Hirsch. His father worked in textiles. Alfred studied at the gymnasium in Mannheim. He had a brother, Gustave, as well as a sister who died when still a child. His parents died young and he and his brother remained under the guardianship of an uncle on their father’s side. The young men worked first for a coffee import business in Germany from 1888-1892. In 1892, possibly in the employment of this company, they moved to Antwerp, where Alfred took employment with the Louis Dreyfus Company until the middle of 1895. At the end of that year Alfred travelled to Buenos Aires and worked for Adolfo Tewes, a well-established coffee entrepreneur.

Alfred Hirsch married Elisa Gottschalk (Lisa) [10171] in Stuttgart.^[1] They had two sons, Rodolfo Carlos and Mario, and a daughter, Leonor Matilde [110527].

In 1897 Alfred (as he was known in Argentina) joined the grain and food stuffs firm, Bunge and Born^[2], where, due to his extraordinary personality and exceptional capacity for work, his career was meteoric. In 1909 he became a partner of the firm and in 1921 he was appointed director, the following year vice president and in 1928 president of the company. During the 28 years of his legendary tenure, his foresight, expertise and imagination expanded a relatively small holding company into a multinational conglomerate, not only of grain and food stuffs, but of finance and multiple industries, including textiles and chemicals. The company contributed hugely to Argentina’s economic expansion despite the challenges of global trading during the Second World War and the trade isolation created by Juan Perón’s first government (1946-1952).

In 1947, on the occasion of the golden anniversary of his working for Bunge & Born, Alfred Hirsch gave a Presidential address and attributed much of his success in business to his faith, as a patriot, in the Republic of Argentina. However, his efforts and enthusiasm were not limited solely to the realm of business. He also directed his energies towards the countryside. He developed the estancias of Las Lilas^[3] and of La Elisa^[4], where he introduced the latest techniques in cattle ranching and dairy production. Like the first owner of La Elisa, Miguel Juárez Celman, president of Argentina from 1886 to 1890, he loved the land around the estancia, which he planted with many exotic species. He was also passionate about art and he became a collector with a predilection for Flemish and Dutch art, influenced, no doubt, by his time in the Netherlands and Flanders. He was able to consult many European specialists in the 1920s and 1930s, Wilhelm von Bode, Brimo de Laroussilhe and Guy Stein among others.

Alfred Hirsch died in Buenos Aires on 12 November 1956, aged eighty-six. His collection of fine and decorative art was bequeathed to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

SMdeL 2012