Uhde, Wilhelm

Uhde, Wilhelm (b Friedeberg in der Neumark [now Strzelce Krajeńskie, Poland], 28 Oct. 1874; d Paris, 17 Aug. 1947).
German collector, dealer, and writer on art, active mainly in France. After studying in Munich and Florence, he settled in Paris in 1904 and by the following year he was buying pictures by Picasso and Braque at a time when these artists were practically unknown. Uhde was also one of the first to discover the Douanier Rousseau; he published the first monograph on him in 1911 and in 1912 organized a retrospective exhibition of his work. Subsequently he was best known for discovering and encouraging other naive artists. In 1947 he published his best-known book, Fünf primitive Meister, dealing with Bauchant, Bombois, Rousseau, Séraphine, and Vivin (French and English editions appeared in 1949).