Book to Note

Alfred Bader. Chemistry and Art: Further Adventures of a Chemist Collector. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2008. x + 246 pp. $29.95.

Reviewed by Mary Virginia Orna

“When life deals you lemons, make lemonade.” I know of no individual who has taken this maxim to heart more than Alfred Bader. In the second installment of his remarkable autobiography, he continues the story of his flight from Nazi Austria, his internment as a prisoner of war in Great Britain, his work to become a Harvard Ph.D. chemist and found the Aldrich Chemical Company, and, most notably, his subsequent ouster from the very company he brought into being. This story is about making not only lemonade, but a delicious concoction of a second career as a collector and dealer in the fine arts; it is laced with tale upon tale of Old Master discoveries, theft, intrigue, and confrontations with government laws regarding the exportation of works of art. Throughout the book, we catch glimpses of the deeply human and humane. Bader confronts injustice when he encounters it but also forges lifelong friendships and philanthropic ties. This book will delight and entrance; and it will awaken an interest in art and forensic science.