Henry Walters
Encyclopedia
Henry Walters was president of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
until he retired in 1902. He was founder of the Walters Art Museum
in Baltimore, Maryland.
. He graduated from Georgetown University
in 1869 and went on to enroll in the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University
from 1869-1872. In 1889 he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina
, to serve as general manager of his father's railroad. Following William's death in 1894, he was elected president of the Atlantic Coast Line Company and transferred the line's headquarters to New York. Under his leadership the railroad experienced rapid growth until World War I
. In 1902 he took control of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
.
In New York, Henry lived with Pembroke and Sarah Jones, a couple he had met in Wilmington, North Carolina
. Seldom did Walters return to Baltimore other than to attend board meetings of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Three years after Pembroke Jones' death in 1919, Henry married Sarah and they continued living in the Manhattan house surrounded by their art collections.
He died in 1931.
He also donated four public bath houses
to the City of Baltimore one of which, Walters Bath No. 2
, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1979.
In 1900 Henry bought Raphael's Madonna of the Candelabra, which had passed through both the Borghese and Bonaparte family collections.
In 1902 Henry undertook an acquisition on a scale unprecedented in the history of American collecting: he bought the contents of the Palazzo Accoramboni in Rome. The collection abounded in works of significance, many of them by masters other than those to whom they had been ascribed, and others by artists not in fashion at that time. In the latter category fell El Greco's painting, St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata. Among the collection's archeological treasures were seven magnificent sarcophagi from a burial chamber associated with the Calpurnii Pisones family. Henry agreed to buy the collection for the sum of five million FF or $1,000,000.
He enhanced the breadth of the 19th-century holdings with such early works as Ingres' Betrothal of Raphael, bought in 1903. Although he did not find French Impressionism to his liking, he agreed in 1903 to buy two examples from Mary Cassatt, including Monet's Springtime.
Henry Walters continued to augment his holdings, buying both in New York and abroad. He collected Egyptian, ancient Near Eastern, and Islamic art, as well as a number of key classical and western medieval objects, including a pair of limestone heads of Old Testament rulers that had come from the abbey church of Saint-Denis.
Beginning in 1903, Henry Walters served on the executive committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. In 1913 he became second vice president, a position he retained for the rest of his life. His experiences on a number of museum committees may have resulted in a change of direction in his collecting after World War I, at which point Walters was less concerned with acquiring works representative of various fields and more committed to objects of major historical and artistic significance.
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...
until he retired in 1902. He was founder of the Walters Art Museum
Walters Art Museum
The Walters Art Museum, located in Baltimore, Maryland's Mount Vernon neighborhood, is a public art museum founded in 1934. The museum's collection was amassed substantially by two men, William Thompson Walters , who began serious collecting when he moved to Paris at the outbreak of the American...
in Baltimore, Maryland.
Biography
He was born in 1848 to William Thompson WaltersWilliam Thompson Walters
William Thompson Walters was an American businessman and art collector, whose collection formed the basis of the Walters Art Museum.-Biography:He was born in Liverpool, Pennsylvania in 1819...
. He graduated from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in 1869 and went on to enroll in the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
from 1869-1872. In 1889 he moved to Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, to serve as general manager of his father's railroad. Following William's death in 1894, he was elected president of the Atlantic Coast Line Company and transferred the line's headquarters to New York. Under his leadership the railroad experienced rapid growth until World War I
World 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...
. In 1902 he took control of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
.
In New York, Henry lived with Pembroke and Sarah Jones, a couple he had met in Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
. Seldom did Walters return to Baltimore other than to attend board meetings of the Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Three years after Pembroke Jones' death in 1919, Henry married Sarah and they continued living in the Manhattan house surrounded by their art collections.
He died in 1931.
Art collection
When his father, died in 1894, he bequeathed his collection to his son, Henry, who greatly expanded the scope of acquisitions, including his astounding purchase of the contents of a palace in Rome that contained over 1,700 pieces. In September 1900, Henry bought the three houses adjoining the property in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore his father had owned to house and display his collection. He had the site transformed into a palazzo-like building, which opened to the public in 1909 as The Walters Art Gallery. He died in 1931, leaving the building and its contents to the mayor and city council of Baltimore "for the benefit of the public." The Walters Art Museum opened its doors for the first time as a public institution on November 3, 1934.He also donated four public bath houses
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
to the City of Baltimore one of which, Walters Bath No. 2
Walters Bath No. 2
Walters Bath No. 2 is a historic bath house located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a small brick building of 40 feet by 70.5 feet laid in Flemish bond with black headers and Maryland limestone trimming. It was constructed in a very simplified form of Renaissance Revival architecture...
, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1979.
Collection highlights
Henry Walters envisaged a museum that would fulfill an educational role within the community, but initially only made modest additions to his father's collection. In 1897 the purchase of a 15th-century Koran, originally thought to be Persian, but now regarded as Indian, may have initiated the manuscript collection.In 1900 Henry bought Raphael's Madonna of the Candelabra, which had passed through both the Borghese and Bonaparte family collections.
In 1902 Henry undertook an acquisition on a scale unprecedented in the history of American collecting: he bought the contents of the Palazzo Accoramboni in Rome. The collection abounded in works of significance, many of them by masters other than those to whom they had been ascribed, and others by artists not in fashion at that time. In the latter category fell El Greco's painting, St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata. Among the collection's archeological treasures were seven magnificent sarcophagi from a burial chamber associated with the Calpurnii Pisones family. Henry agreed to buy the collection for the sum of five million FF or $1,000,000.
He enhanced the breadth of the 19th-century holdings with such early works as Ingres' Betrothal of Raphael, bought in 1903. Although he did not find French Impressionism to his liking, he agreed in 1903 to buy two examples from Mary Cassatt, including Monet's Springtime.
Henry Walters continued to augment his holdings, buying both in New York and abroad. He collected Egyptian, ancient Near Eastern, and Islamic art, as well as a number of key classical and western medieval objects, including a pair of limestone heads of Old Testament rulers that had come from the abbey church of Saint-Denis.
Beginning in 1903, Henry Walters served on the executive committee of 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...
. In 1913 he became second vice president, a position he retained for the rest of his life. His experiences on a number of museum committees may have resulted in a change of direction in his collecting after World War I, at which point Walters was less concerned with acquiring works representative of various fields and more committed to objects of major historical and artistic significance.