From Wikipedia:
Emil Georg Bührle (31 August 1890 in Pforzheim – November 26, 1956 in Zürich) was an arms manufacturer, art collector and patron His art collection is now housed in the Foundation EG Bührle
After studying philosophy, literature, history and art history in Freiburg, Bührle went to Munich From 1914 to 1919 he was a German cavalry officer in the imperial army In 1919 he joined the Magdeburg Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik and rose up to become a legal representative The Magdeburger Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik bought the Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon in 1923, and Bührle became the CEO the following year In the same year he was moved to Zurich In 1929, Bührle became the majority shareholder of the Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon and in 1936 he became the sole owner of the company (later the Oerlikon-Bührle Holding AG) Also in 1936, Bührle obtained Swiss citizenship
From his 1920 marriage with Charlotte Schalk came two children The following foundations are attributed to Emil Bührle: Emil Bührle Foundation for the Swiss literature (1943), Goethe Foundation for Art and Science (1944) and the Foundation of the cultivation of the Kunsthaus Zurich (1954)
Bührles first acquisitions were two 1920 watercolours by Erich Heckel, followed in 1924 by a picture of Maurice de Vlaminck The present day make up of the Bührle collection started in 1936, when financial conditions were very favourable
The largest part of his collection (ca75%) was acquired from 1951 to 1956 Among others, Bührle was advised by Nathan Fritz, a gallery owner, and a small circle of international dealers in Paris, London and New York City, in addition to which included Georges Wildenstein, Paul Rosenberg, and also Max Kaganovitch and Frank Lloyd of the Marlborough Gallery The collection includes medieval sculptures and old masters, mainly French Impressionism and classical modernism, including masterpieces by Paul Cézanne (The Boy with a Red Vest), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (La petite Irène) and Vincent van Gogh (The Sower (after Millet))) Bührle continued the tradition of collectors in Germany, Scandinavia, Britain and the USA, who - before the First World War and in the inter-war years - centred their interest on French modernism An example of this trend in Switzerland is the "Am Römerholz" collection by Oskar Reinhart in nearby Winterthur Two-thirds of the collection now displayed were acquired in 1960 by the heirs to the EG Bührle Foundation, and have since been introduced to the public