Pierre Schlumberger (1914 – February 18, 1986) was an American businessman. He was the chief executive of Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services company.
Pierre Schlumberger | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1914 |
| Died | February 18, 1986 (aged 71–72) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | President and CEO, Schlumberger |
| Term | 1956–1965 |
| Successor | Jean Riboud |
| Spouse(s) | Claire Simone Schwob d'Héricourt (died 1959) |
| Children | 7 |
| Parent(s) | Marcel Schlumberger Jeanne Laurans |
Early life edit
Pierre Schlumberger was born in 1914, the son of Marcel Schlumberger, a mechanical engineer, and his wife Jeanne Laurans.[1] Marcel co-founded Schlumberger in the 1920s with his brother, Conrad, a physicist.[1] Pierre was the brothers' only male heir.
Career edit
Schlumberger worked for Schlumberger for 25 years, rising to president and CEO in 1956 (Henri George Doll, Conrad Schlumberger's son-in-law, was the chairman), until he retired in 1965 and was succeeded by Jean Riboud.[1][2] Under Pierre, the company ceased to be a family business, expanded into electronics, centralized its operations in Houston, Texas, and became a publicly traded company.[2]
Art collector edit
Schlumberger acquired a "superlative collection of modern art", including works by Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian; then with his second wife, São, they expanded to include contemporary artists, adding works by artists including Mark Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, Andy Warhol, and Robert Rauschenberg.[3] Their collection was auctioned by Sotheby's over four days in November 2014, who called them "two of the most visionary collectors of the Twentieth Century."[3]
Schlumberger co-founded the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.[1]
Personal life edit
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Schlumberger's first wife, Claire Simone Schwob d'Héricourt (1917–1959), was a French aristocrat, the daughter of film producer Jacques Schwob d'Héricourt; they were married for two decades and had five children before she died from a stroke in 1959.[4]
In 1961, he married Maria "São" da Conceição Diniz (1929–2007), who had been married to Pedro Bessone Basto, a Portuguese "boulevardier", for less than a year.[4] He was 47, she was 32.[4] They lived in Houston until he was ousted as CEO in "a family coup" in 1965 and moved to New York City and then Paris.[4] His house in Lazy Lane in Houston was designed by the family's French architect Pierre Barbe.[5] Barbe also restored a holiday home for them on the Normandy coast and designed a new house at Tourrettes-sur-Loup on the Riviera.[5]
They lived in an 18th-century hôtel particulier in the Rue Férou, next door to Man Ray, restored by Barbe, with interior design by Valerian Rybar in "a provocative mix of classic and modern styles".[4][5] They were prominent in New York and Paris society and hosted guests including Yves Saint Laurent, Andy Warhol, Rudolf Nureyev, Robert Rauschenberg, Christo, Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, and Roy Lichtenstein.[3]
In 1964, he bought Quinta do Vinagre, a 16th-century manor with 103 acres (42 ha) near Sintra, Portugal, built for the local bishop.[6] From 1965 to 1975, Barbe restored and updated the 18-bedroom property.[5] In 1968, Schlumberger and Antenor Patiño both held parties at their Portuguese estates with over 1,000 guests including Gina Lollobrigida, Audrey Hepburn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Henry Ford II.[6][7] The singer Madonna was thought to have bought it for €18 million in 2017, but instead chose a smaller more "manageable" house nearby.[8]
They had two children, Paul-Albert in 1962 and Victoire in 1968.[4] Schlumberger, an invalid from an earlier stroke, died in Paris in 1986.[1]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e "Industrialist Pierre Schlumberger, 71". The Associated Press. February 19, 1986. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- ^ a b Schlumberger (September 1, 2017). This Is Schlumberger: 90 Years of Technical Innovation. Schlumberger. pp. 84–85. GGKEY:9EB2W5988TQ.
- ^ a b c "The Schlumberger Collection At Sotheby's New York". Sotheby's. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Colacello, Bob (October 2010). "The Wow of São". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- ^ a b c d William Middleton (March 27, 2018). Double Vision: The Unerring Eye of Art World Avatars Dominique and John de Menil. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-1-5247-3294-3. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Bird, Alyssa (August 2, 2015). "Homes for Sale Around the World". Architectural Digest. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ Barry Hatton (January 6, 2016). The Portuguese: A Portrait of a People. Andrews UK Limited. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-908493-38-5. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "Madonna buys 18th century Sintra palacete". Algarve Resident. June 10, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2020.