Dr. Herman Herzog Levy, O.B.E. (1902–1990) who donated his personal collection of more than 185 European and American works of art to the University in the mid–1980s.
Herman H. Levy was the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Alsace Lorraine who settled in Canada in the late 19th century. His grandfather established a very successful family–run business in Hamilton called Levy Brothers which specialized in diamond and jewellery importing, a business which the young Herman Levy himself joined in 1923. It was around this time that Levy also first developed his interest in art while completing an apprenticeship in fine jewellery and the diamond trade in Amsterdam. Regular visits to the city’s many museums and galleries allowed him time to look at art and develop his eye. Levy also made some of his first purchases at that time including early European woodcut prints and maps and thus established a lifelong practice – the careful examination, contemplation and experience of objects of quality. As he described it, “doing what I liked best – looking at beautiful things.”
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