Adolph Paul Oppé

OPPÉ, ADOLPH PAUL (1878–1957), British art historian and collector. Born in London, the son of a silk merchant, Oppé was educated at the Charterhouse school, St. Andrews University, and Oxford. A senior civil servant, he became one of the greatest British art scholars of his time, specializing in studies of Renaissance Italian artists such as Raphael (1909) and Botticelli (1991). Universally respected, he was made a fellow of the British Academy in 1952. Oppé built up one of the greatest collections of drawings and watercolors of his time, having an uncanny eye for buying unappreciated works for virtually nothing. His collection was acquired by the Tate Gallery after his death.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online.

[William D. Rubinstein (2nd ed.)]