Henry O. Havemeyer
Encyclopedia
Henry Osborne Havemeyer (1847–1907) was an American entrepreneur who founded the American Sugar Refining Company
in 1891. He was chosen vice president and afterward its president.
, inherited sugar refining entities and expanded them with assistance from his brother, Theodore Havemeyer
. His companies controlled sugar refining of the United States
at the time of his death.
After three years (1865–68) of training in the Havemeyer business of sugar refining in the north-west area of Greenpoint, Brooklyn
, he became a partner in the firm of Havemeyer and Elder, his study of production and market conditions gaining him controlling influence.
He was president of the Long Island Rail Road
from 1875 to 1876; during that time he brought two lawsuits for about a third of a million dollars against his immediate predecessor, Oliver Charlick.
After the formation of the American Sugar Refining Company in 1891, under his direction the capitalization of the corporation was increased from $50,000,000 to $75,000,000, and half of the stock of the Spreckels Sugar Company
was acquired, thus giving his company control of the Hawaii
an sugar and of the markets west of the Mississippi River
. He became president of the American Coffee Company. In 1897 Havemeyer was arrested on a charge of contempt for refusing to answer the questions put to him by a committee of the United States Senate
, but he was acquitted. Havemeyer is generally regarded as a nineteenth century robber baron. The manner in which he acquired his fortune ensured that neither he nor his wife would serve as a trustee at New York's Metropolitan Museum, despite their major gifts of works by Édouard Manet
, Louis Comfort Tiffany
, and Gilbert Stuart
to the collections. A raid of the docks at the Havemeyer plant in Brooklyn by the U.S. Treasury Department revealed that the scales were not accurate and the firm had significantly underpaid import duties. The resulting public scandal may have contributed to Henry Havemeyer's sudden death. His wife Louisine and daughter Electra sailed for Europe to avoid the resulting public outcry. The family name was greatly tarnished by this incident, which may have encouraged Electra Havemeyer to one day found a museum of her own.
Havemeyer died in 1907 and funeral services were held at his home at 1 East Sixty-Sixth Street officiated by Rev. Dr. R. Heber Newton
, an Episcopalian minister. Havemeyer was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery
.
Henry Havemeyer divorced his first wife Mary Louise Elder and married her niece Louisine Elder in 1883. Both Henry and Lousine had distinct tastes for art collecting that largely complemented each other. Both Henry and Louisine had to be in agreement as to an objects worth for it to enter their now legendary collection. Louisine focused on collecting modern works by European painters, including the then-unappreciated Impressionists. She was most influenced by her close friend Mary Cassatt
, who encouraged her to buy works by Edgar Degas
and Claude Monet
. Louisine would make 33 transatlantic crossings, returning from each major trip with a bounty of great western art.
The Havemeyers had three children:
Although each of the children collected in their own right, Electra Havemeyer Webb
collected on the grand scale of her parents and went on to found a museum to showcase her deep and diverse collections. Louisine identified some twenty works as a bequest to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, but her children decided to give the Met's curators free rein. By the time they had finished an inventory of the Havemeyer's three-story Fifth Avenue manse 1,967 works would assimilated into the Met's holdings. The Havemeyer collection is represented throughout the galleries, but most notably by the sheer volume of works present in the Impressionist
collection. Some choice works from the Havemeyer collection are on view at the Shelburne Museum
and the University of Michigan Museum of Art
to this day.
American Sugar Refining Company
The American Sugar Refining Company was the largest American business unit in the sugar refining industry in the early 1900s.-Establishment:...
in 1891. He was chosen vice president and afterward its president.
Background
Havemeyer, who 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...
, inherited sugar refining entities and expanded them with assistance from his brother, Theodore Havemeyer
Theodore Havemeyer
Theodore Havemeyer was an American businessman who was the first president of the U.S. Golf Association and co-founder of the Newport Country Club, host to both the first U.S. Amateur and the first U.S. Open in 1895....
. His companies controlled sugar refining of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the time of his death.
After three years (1865–68) of training in the Havemeyer business of sugar refining in the north-west area of Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at the Bushwick inlet, on the southeast by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and East Williamsburg, on the north by Newtown Creek and Long Island City, Queens at the...
, he became a partner in the firm of Havemeyer and Elder, his study of production and market conditions gaining him controlling influence.
He was president of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
from 1875 to 1876; during that time he brought two lawsuits for about a third of a million dollars against his immediate predecessor, Oliver Charlick.
After the formation of the American Sugar Refining Company in 1891, under his direction the capitalization of the corporation was increased from $50,000,000 to $75,000,000, and half of the stock of the Spreckels Sugar Company
Spreckels Sugar Company
The Spreckels Sugar Company is an American sugar beet refiner that for many years controlled much of the U.S. West Coast refined sugar market. Spreckels Sugar was founded by entrepreneur, industrialist, newspaper publisher, and railroad executive Claus Spreckels in 1881...
was acquired, thus giving his company control of the Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an sugar and of the markets west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. He became president of the American Coffee Company. In 1897 Havemeyer was arrested on a charge of contempt for refusing to answer the questions put to him by a committee of the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, but he was acquitted. Havemeyer is generally regarded as a nineteenth century robber baron. The manner in which he acquired his fortune ensured that neither he nor his wife would serve as a trustee at New York's Metropolitan Museum, despite their major gifts of works by Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
, and Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island.Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists...
to the collections. A raid of the docks at the Havemeyer plant in Brooklyn by the U.S. Treasury Department revealed that the scales were not accurate and the firm had significantly underpaid import duties. The resulting public scandal may have contributed to Henry Havemeyer's sudden death. His wife Louisine and daughter Electra sailed for Europe to avoid the resulting public outcry. The family name was greatly tarnished by this incident, which may have encouraged Electra Havemeyer to one day found a museum of her own.
Havemeyer died in 1907 and funeral services were held at his home at 1 East Sixty-Sixth Street officiated by Rev. Dr. R. Heber Newton
R. Heber Newton
Richard Heber Newton was a prominent American Episcopalian priest and writer. He was rector of All Souls' Protestant Episcopal Church in New York City from 1869–1902...
, an Episcopalian minister. Havemeyer was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
.
Art collecting
Henry Havemeyer's first art purchases was made in Philadelphia where he bought carved ivory figures, Japanese lacquered boxes, silk, brocades, and sword guards. His purchases were impulsive, numerous, and deeply personal.Henry Havemeyer divorced his first wife Mary Louise Elder and married her niece Louisine Elder in 1883. Both Henry and Lousine had distinct tastes for art collecting that largely complemented each other. Both Henry and Louisine had to be in agreement as to an objects worth for it to enter their now legendary collection. Louisine focused on collecting modern works by European painters, including the then-unappreciated Impressionists. She was most influenced by her close friend Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists...
, who encouraged her to buy works by Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
and Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. Louisine would make 33 transatlantic crossings, returning from each major trip with a bounty of great western art.
The Havemeyers had three children:
- Adaline Havemeyer (born 1884), married to Peter Hood Ballantine Freilinghuysen
- Horace Havemeyer (born 1886)
- Electra HavemeyerElectra Havemeyer WebbElectra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
(1888 - 1960)
Although each of the children collected in their own right, Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
collected on the grand scale of her parents and went on to found a museum to showcase her deep and diverse collections. Louisine identified some twenty works as a bequest to the 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...
, but her children decided to give the Met's curators free rein. By the time they had finished an inventory of the Havemeyer's three-story Fifth Avenue manse 1,967 works would assimilated into the Met's holdings. The Havemeyer collection is represented throughout the galleries, but most notably by the sheer volume of works present in the Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
collection. Some choice works from the Havemeyer collection are on view at the Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
and the University of Michigan Museum of Art
University of Michigan Museum of Art
The University of Michigan Museum of Art, or UMMA in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the USA. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall originally housed U-M's Alumni office along with the...
to this day.