Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Encyclopedia
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (January 9, 1875 – April 18, 1942) was an American
sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art
in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, who was born into the United States
Vanderbilt family
and married into the Whitney family
.
on January 9, 1875. She was the eldest surviving daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II
(1843–1899) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne
(1852–1934) and a great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt
.
Gertrude Vanderbilt spent her summers in Newport, Rhode Island
, at the family's mansion, The Breakers
, where she kept up with the boys in all their rigorous sporting activities. Educated by private tutors and at the exclusive Brearley School
in New York City, at age 21 she married the extremely wealthy sportsman Harry Payne Whitney
(1872–1930).
A banker and investor, Whitney was the son of William C. Whitney
, and his mother was the daughter of a Senator, and sister of a Standard Oil
Company magnate. Harry Whitney inherited a fortune in oil and tobacco as well as interests in banking. Gertrude and Harry Whitney had three children, Flora
(1897), Cornelius
(1899), and Barbara (1903).
While visiting Europe in the early 1900s, Gertrude Whitney discovered the burgeoning art world of Montmartre
and Montparnasse
in France
. What she saw encouraged her to pursue her creativity and become a sculptor.
As such, she studied her craft at the Art Students League of New York
and then with Auguste Rodin
in Paris
. Eventually, she maintained art studios in Greenwich Village
and in Passy
, a fashionable Parisian neighborhood in the XVI arrondissement. Her works received critical acclaim both in Europe and the United States.
Her great wealth afforded her the opportunity to become a patron of the arts, but she also devoted herself to the advancement of women in art. She was the primary financial backer for the "International Composer's Guild," an organization created to promote the performance of modern music.
In 1914, in one of the many Manhattan
properties she and her husband owned, Gertrude Whitney established the Whitney Studio Club at 8 West 8th Street in Greenwich Village
as a facility where young artists could exhibit their works. The place would evolve to become her greatest legacy, the Whitney Museum of American Art
, on the site of today's New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
. Founded in 1931, she decided to put the time and money into the museum after the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
turned down her offer to contribute her twenty-five-year collection of modern art
works.
A colorful recollection of one of her parties celebrating her artist friends was recounted by the artist Jerome Myers
. "Matching it in memory is a party at Mrs. Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney's, on her Long Island estate, the artists there a veritable
catalog of celebrities, painters and sculptors. I can hardly visualize,
let alone describe, the many shifting scenes of our entertainment:
sunken pools and gorgeous white peacocks as line decorations
spreading into the gardens; in their swinging cages, brilliant macaws
nodding their beaks at George Luks
as though they remembered
posing for his pictures of them; Robert Chanler showing us his exotic
sea pictures, blue-green visions in a marine bathroom; and Mrs.
Whitney displaying her studio, the only place on earth in which she
could find solitude. Here the artists felt at home, the Whitney
hospitality always gracious and sincere."
Gertrude Whitney sculpted the Christopher Columbus
memorial, called "Monumento a la Fe Descubridora" (Monument to the Discovery Faith), located in Huelva
, Spain
.
Her numerous United States
works include:
A marble replica of the head of the Titanic memorial was purchased by the Government of France for the Musée du Luxembourg
.
, Gertrude Whitney dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital for wounded soldiers in Neuilly-sur-Seine
, near Paris
in France
. Following the end of the War, she was involved in the creation of a number of commemorative sculptures.
It was also during World War I that her brother Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt perished in the Lusitania
disaster.
.
Gertrude Whitney died in 1942, aged 67, and was interred next to her husband in Woodlawn Cemetery
, The Bronx, New York. Her daughter Flora Whitney-Miller assumed her mother's duties as head of the Whitney Museum.
In 1999, Gertrude Whitney's granddaughter, Flora Miller Biddle, published a family memoir titled The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made. She was also the subject of B. H. Friedman
's 1978 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney: A Biography.
In the 1982 tele-film, Little Gloria...Happy At Last, Whitney was portrayed by actress Angela Lansbury
, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, who was born into the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
and married into the Whitney family
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
.
Biography
Gertrude Vanderbilt was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on January 9, 1875. She was the eldest surviving daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Cornelius Vanderbilt II was an American socialite, heir, businessman, and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family....
(1843–1899) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne
Alice Claypoole Gwynne
Alice Claypoole Gwynne Vanderbilt was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and reigned as the dowager Mrs. Vanderbilt for over 60 years.-Biography:...
(1852–1934) and a great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt , also known by the sobriquet Commodore, was an American entrepreneur who built his wealth in shipping and railroads. He was also the patriarch of the Vanderbilt family and one of the richest Americans in history...
.
Gertrude Vanderbilt spent her summers in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, at the family's mansion, The Breakers
The Breakers
The Breakers is a Vanderbilt mansion located on Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a National Historic Landmark, a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, and is owned and operated by the Preservation Society of Newport...
, where she kept up with the boys in all their rigorous sporting activities. Educated by private tutors and at the exclusive Brearley School
Brearley School
The Brearley School is an all-girls private school in New York City, New York, United States. It is located on the Upper East Side of the Manhattan borough of New York City. The school is divided into the Lower School , Middle School and Upper School...
in New York City, at age 21 she married the extremely wealthy sportsman Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...
(1872–1930).
A banker and investor, Whitney was the son of William C. Whitney
William C. Whitney
William Collins Whitney was an American political leader and financier and founder of the prominent Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first Cleveland administration from 1885 through 1889. A conservative reformer, he was considered a Bourbon Democrat.-Early life:William...
, and his mother was the daughter of a Senator, and sister of a Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
Company magnate. Harry Whitney inherited a fortune in oil and tobacco as well as interests in banking. Gertrude and Harry Whitney had three children, Flora
Flora Payne Whitney
Flora Payne Whitney, also known as Flora Whitney Miller , was a wealthy socialite, art collector, and patron of the arts.-Biography:...
(1897), Cornelius
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....
(1899), and Barbara (1903).
Influence in art
Montmartre
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 metres high, giving its name to the surrounding district, in the north of Paris in the 18th arrondissement, a part of the Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for the white-domed Basilica of the Sacré Cœur on its summit and as a nightclub district...
and Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. What she saw encouraged her to pursue her creativity and become a sculptor.
As such, she studied her craft at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
and then with Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Eventually, she maintained art studios in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
and in Passy
Passy
Passy is an area of Paris, France, located in the XVIe arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is traditionally home to many of the city's wealthiest residents.Passy was formerly a commune...
, a fashionable Parisian neighborhood in the XVI arrondissement. Her works received critical acclaim both in Europe and the United States.
Her great wealth afforded her the opportunity to become a patron of the arts, but she also devoted herself to the advancement of women in art. She was the primary financial backer for the "International Composer's Guild," an organization created to promote the performance of modern music.
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
properties she and her husband owned, Gertrude Whitney established the Whitney Studio Club at 8 West 8th Street in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
as a facility where young artists could exhibit their works. The place would evolve to become her greatest legacy, the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, on the site of today's New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture
The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture at 8 West 8th Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York State is an art school formed in 1963 by a group of students and their teacher, Mercedes Matter, all of whom had become disenchanted with the fragmented...
. Founded in 1931, she decided to put the time and money into the museum after the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
turned down her offer to contribute her twenty-five-year collection of modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
works.
A colorful recollection of one of her parties celebrating her artist friends was recounted by the artist Jerome Myers
Jerome Myers
Jerome Myers was a U.S. artist and writer. Born in Petersburg, Virginia and raised in Philadelphia, Trenton and Baltimore, he spent his adult life in New York City. Jerome worked briefly as an actor and scene painter, then studied art at Cooper Union and the Art Students League where his main...
. "Matching it in memory is a party at Mrs. Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney's, on her Long Island estate, the artists there a veritable
catalog of celebrities, painters and sculptors. I can hardly visualize,
let alone describe, the many shifting scenes of our entertainment:
sunken pools and gorgeous white peacocks as line decorations
spreading into the gardens; in their swinging cages, brilliant macaws
nodding their beaks at George Luks
George Luks
George Benjamin Luks, was an American realist artist and illustrator. His vigorously painted genre paintings of urban subjects are examples of the Ashcan school in American art.-Early life:...
as though they remembered
posing for his pictures of them; Robert Chanler showing us his exotic
sea pictures, blue-green visions in a marine bathroom; and Mrs.
Whitney displaying her studio, the only place on earth in which she
could find solitude. Here the artists felt at home, the Whitney
hospitality always gracious and sincere."
Public sculpture by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
memorial, called "Monumento a la Fe Descubridora" (Monument to the Discovery Faith), located in Huelva
Huelva
Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Her numerous United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
works include:
- "Fountain of El Dorado" – San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
(now in Lima, Peru); - "Aztec Fountain" - Washington, D. C.;
- "Women's Titanic MemorialWomen's Titanic MemorialThe Titanic Memorial is a granite statue in southwest Washington, D.C., that honors the men who gave their lives so that women and children might be saved during the RMS Titanic disaster. The thirteen-foot-tall figure is of a partly clad male figure with arms outstretched...
" - Washington, D. C.; - "William F. Cody Memorial" - Cody, WyomingCody, WyomingCody is a city in Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after William Frederick Cody, primarily known as Buffalo Bill, from William Cody's part in the creation of the original town. The population was 9,520 at the 2010 census...
- "Victory Arch" - Madison SquareMadison SquareMadison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Constitution.The focus of the square is...
, New York City - "Three Graces" McGill UniversityMcGill UniversityMohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
lower campus Montreal, Quebec, commonly called the "Three Bares" - First World War memorial in Mitchell Square ParkMitchell Square ParkMitchell Square Park is a small urban park in the Washington Heights neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is a two part, triangle shaped park formed by the intersection of Saint Nicholas Avenue, Broadway and 167th Street....
, Washington HeightsWashington Heights, ManhattanWashington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
, New York City
A marble replica of the head of the Titanic memorial was purchased by the Government of France for the Musée du Luxembourg
Musée du Luxembourg
Musée du Luxembourg is a museum in Paris, France. It occupies the east wing of the Palais du Luxembourg, whose matching west wing originally housed Ruben's Marie de' Medici cycle. Since 2000 it has been run by the French Ministry of Culture and the Senate and is devoted to temporary exhibitions...
.
Patriotism
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Gertrude Whitney dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital for wounded soldiers in Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
, near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Following the end of the War, she was involved in the creation of a number of commemorative sculptures.
It was also during World War I that her brother Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt perished in the Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
disaster.
Later life
In 1934, she was at the center of a highly publicized court battle with her sister-in-law, Gloria Morgan-Vanderbilt, for custody of her ten-year-old niece, Gloria VanderbiltGloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
.
Gertrude Whitney died in 1942, aged 67, and was interred next to her husband in Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark.A rural cemetery located in the Bronx, it opened in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874.The cemetery covers more...
, The Bronx, New York. Her daughter Flora Whitney-Miller assumed her mother's duties as head of the Whitney Museum.
In 1999, Gertrude Whitney's granddaughter, Flora Miller Biddle, published a family memoir titled The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made. She was also the subject of B. H. Friedman
B. H. Friedman
Bernard Harper Friedman , better known by his initials "B. H.", was an American author and art critic who wrote biographies of Jackson Pollock and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a number of novels that combined his experiences in the worlds of art and business, as well as an autobiographical account...
's 1978 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney: A Biography.
In the 1982 tele-film, Little Gloria...Happy At Last, Whitney was portrayed by actress Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance.
Social titles
- 1875-1896: Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt of the BreakersThe BreakersThe Breakers is a Vanderbilt mansion located on Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a National Historic Landmark, a contributing property to the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, and is owned and operated by the Preservation Society of Newport...
- 1896-1930: Mrs. Harry Payne WhitneyHarry Payne WhitneyHarry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...
- 1930-1942: Mrs. Gertrude Whitney