Huguette M. Clark
Encyclopedia
Huguette Marcelle Clark (ˈhjuːɡɛt; June 9, 1906 – May 24, 2011), was the youngest daughter of former U.S. Senator and industrialist William A. Clark. She lived a reclusive life after 1930 and her activities were virtually unknown to the public. Upon her death in 2011, Clark left behind a vast fortune, most of which was donated to charity. Substantial sums were also left to her longtime nurse, her goddaughter, some employees and her attorney. Her accountant and her attorney are part of a criminal investigation concerning suspicions of mishandling Clark's assets.
She had an older sister, Louise Amelia Andrée Clark (1902-1919), and five half siblings from her father's first marriage to Catherine Louise Stauffer:
Following the death of her father in 1925, Huguette Clark and her mother moved from a mansion at 962 Fifth Avenue to a 12th floor apartment at 907 Fifth Avenue
. She later purchased the entire 8th floor in the building. In 1928, she agreed to donate $50,000 (equivalent to $ in 2010 dollars) to excavate the salt pond and create an artificial freshwater lake across from Bellosguardo (34.418376°N 119.660664°W), her 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) estate on the Pacific Coast
in Santa Barbara, California
. She stipulated that the facility would be named the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge, after her sister, who died of meningitis
.
The daughter of a former staff member described Clark and her mother as not "odd or strange" but rather "quiet, loving, giving ladies". Over the years she developed a distrust of outsiders, including her family, because she thought they were after her money. She preferred to conduct all of her conversations in French so that others were unlikely to understand the discussion.
Huguette Clark was a musician and an artist who, in 1929, exhibited seven of her paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C.
The last known photograph of her was taken in 1930, and she was rarely seen in public following the death of her mother in 1963. She reportedly had a very small group of friends. Her closest friend and former employee, Suzanne Pierre, died of Alzheimer's in February 2011.
graduate, who was a son of one of her father's business associates, William Bleakly Gower. The couple separated in 1929 and divorced in Reno, Nevada, on 12 August 1930, the bride claiming Gower had deserted her, while the groom claimed the marriage had not been consummated.
, which said caretakers at her three residences had not seen her in decades, and that her palatial estates in Santa Barbara, California
, and New Canaan, Connecticut
, had lain empty throughout that time, although the houses and their extensive grounds were meticulously maintained by their staff. Msnbc.com investigative reporter Bill Dedman
later determined that she was in the care of a New York City hospital, and that some of her personal possessions had been quietly sold. Possessions sold included a rare 1709 violin called La Pucelle
(or The Virgin) made by Antonio Stradivari
and an 1882 Pierre-Auguste Renoir
painting entitled In the Roses. Building staff reported that she was frail but not ill when Clark left her Fifth Avenue co-op in an ambulance in 1988. Initially she took up residence at Mount Sinai Medical Center to be more comfortable but was later transferred to another hospital in Manhattan
.
In August 2010, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office initiated a probe into her affairs managed by her accountant, Irving Kamsler, and her attorney, Wallace Bock. Then a former paralegal for Wallace Bock's law firm, Cynthia Garcia, said that Bock received many lavish gifts from Huguette, including a $1.5 million gift after 9/11 to build a bomb shelter in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank
near the homes of his daughters. According to Garcia, Bock tried many times to get Clark to sign a will, including versions that included him as a beneficiary. Bock's spokesperson acknowledged that she had a will.
In September 2010, in a one-paragraph ruling, Judge Laura Visitacion-Lewis turned down a request from a grand-half-nephew and two grand-half-nieces, Ian Devine, Carla Hall Friedman and Karine McCall, to appoint an independent guardian to manage Clark's affairs. The Manhattan District Attorney interviewed her twice and found she did not have all her faculties, and both her vision and hearing were, unsurprisingly, poor.
Clark's will was filed on June 22, 2011 in Surrogate's Court. The last will and testament was made in 2005 and left 75% of her estate, about $300 million, to charity. Her longtime nurse, Hadassah Peri, received about $30 million, her goddaughter, Wanda Styka, received about $12 million and the newly created Bellosguardo Foundation $8 million. Other employees who managed her residences received smaller sums. Her attorney and accountant each received $500,000. One of Claude Monet
's 250 oil paintings inspired by Water Lilies
(Nymphéas) in his Giverny
flower garden was bequeathed to the Corcoran Museum of Art. She purchased the 1907 painting from Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1930.
In November 2011 it was announced that an earlier will, signed one month earlier than the filed last will and testament and leaving Clark's estate to her family, was discovered.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/huguette-clark-will_n_1118409.html
on the morning of May 24, 2011, two weeks short of her 105th birthday. She had been moved a month earlier to an intensive-care unit and later to a room with hospice care. She had been living at Beth Israel under pseudonyms; the latest was Harriet Chase. The room was guarded and she was cared for by part-time private nurses. Her room on the 3rd floor had a card with the fake room number "1B" with the name "Chase" taped over the actual room number. A criminal investigation into the handling of her money was ongoing at the time of her death.
She was interred on the morning of May 26, 2011, in the family mausoleum in section 85 of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx before the cemetery gates were open to the public. Her attorney said she had specific instructions that no funeral service or mass be held. In 2008, Clark's representatives obtained consent from other Clark family members to alter the mausoleum originally commissioned by her father. It was not until early 2011 that the mausoleum was altered to accommodate her entombment.
Early life
Huguette Marcelle Clark was born in 1906 in Paris, France, the second daughter of William A. Clark, a former U.S. Senator, by his second wife, the former Anna Eugenia La Chapelle (1878—1963).She had an older sister, Louise Amelia Andrée Clark (1902-1919), and five half siblings from her father's first marriage to Catherine Louise Stauffer:
- William Andrews Clark Jr.William Andrews Clark, Jr.William Andrews Clark, Jr. , son of U.S. senator and billionaire William Andrews Clark, was the founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919. Clark also had a hand in the construction of the Hollywood Bowl. Clark was an avid collector of rare books, especially fine prints...
(1877-1934; married Mabel Foster and Alice McManus) - Charles Walker Clark (1871-1933; married Katharine Quin Roberts and Cecelia "Celia" Tobin)
- Francis Paul Clark (1880-1896)
- Katherine Louise Clark (born 1882; married Dr. Lewis Rutherford Morris)
- Mary Joaquina Clark (1870-1939; married Everett Mallory Culver, Charles Potter Kling, and Marius de Brabant)
Following the death of her father in 1925, Huguette Clark and her mother moved from a mansion at 962 Fifth Avenue to a 12th floor apartment at 907 Fifth Avenue
907 Fifth Avenue
907 Fifth Avenue is a luxury residential housing cooperative in Manhattan, New York City.The twelve-story, limestone-faced building is located at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street on a site once occupied by the 1893 residence of James A. Burden, which had been designed by R. H. Robertson...
. She later purchased the entire 8th floor in the building. In 1928, she agreed to donate $50,000 (equivalent to $ in 2010 dollars) to excavate the salt pond and create an artificial freshwater lake across from Bellosguardo (34.418376°N 119.660664°W), her 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) estate on the Pacific Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
. She stipulated that the facility would be named the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge, after her sister, who died of meningitis
Meningitis
Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...
.
The daughter of a former staff member described Clark and her mother as not "odd or strange" but rather "quiet, loving, giving ladies". Over the years she developed a distrust of outsiders, including her family, because she thought they were after her money. She preferred to conduct all of her conversations in French so that others were unlikely to understand the discussion.
Huguette Clark was a musician and an artist who, in 1929, exhibited seven of her paintings at the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The last known photograph of her was taken in 1930, and she was rarely seen in public following the death of her mother in 1963. She reportedly had a very small group of friends. Her closest friend and former employee, Suzanne Pierre, died of Alzheimer's in February 2011.
Marriage
On 18 August 1928, in Santa Barbara, California, Clark married law student William MacDonald Gower, a PrincetonPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
graduate, who was a son of one of her father's business associates, William Bleakly Gower. The couple separated in 1929 and divorced in Reno, Nevada, on 12 August 1930, the bride claiming Gower had deserted her, while the groom claimed the marriage had not been consummated.
Later years and controversy
In February 2010, Clark became the subject of a series of reports on msnbc.comMsnbc.com
msnbc.com is a news website owned and operated as a joint venture by NBCUniversal and Microsoft.In addition to original content from its news staff, msnbc.com is the news website for the NBC News family, with content from the cable television news channel MSNBC, NBC shows such as Today, NBC Nightly...
, which said caretakers at her three residences had not seen her in decades, and that her palatial estates in Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, and New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan, Connecticut
New Canaan is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, northeast of Stamford, on the Fivemile River. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.The town is one of the most affluent communities in the United States...
, had lain empty throughout that time, although the houses and their extensive grounds were meticulously maintained by their staff. Msnbc.com investigative reporter Bill Dedman
Bill Dedman
Bill Dedman, an American journalist, is an investigative reporter for news site msnbc.com and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting....
later determined that she was in the care of a New York City hospital, and that some of her personal possessions had been quietly sold. Possessions sold included a rare 1709 violin called La Pucelle
La Pucelle
La Pucelle may refer to:* Gerard la Pucelle , Roman Catholic bishop* La Pucelle , a.k.a. Joan of Arc, virgin saint and national heroine of France...
(or The Virgin) made by Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
and an 1882 Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
painting entitled In the Roses. Building staff reported that she was frail but not ill when Clark left her Fifth Avenue co-op in an ambulance in 1988. Initially she took up residence at Mount Sinai Medical Center to be more comfortable but was later transferred to another hospital in Manhattan
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...
.
In August 2010, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office initiated a probe into her affairs managed by her accountant, Irving Kamsler, and her attorney, Wallace Bock. Then a former paralegal for Wallace Bock's law firm, Cynthia Garcia, said that Bock received many lavish gifts from Huguette, including a $1.5 million gift after 9/11 to build a bomb shelter in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
near the homes of his daughters. According to Garcia, Bock tried many times to get Clark to sign a will, including versions that included him as a beneficiary. Bock's spokesperson acknowledged that she had a will.
In September 2010, in a one-paragraph ruling, Judge Laura Visitacion-Lewis turned down a request from a grand-half-nephew and two grand-half-nieces, Ian Devine, Carla Hall Friedman and Karine McCall, to appoint an independent guardian to manage Clark's affairs. The Manhattan District Attorney interviewed her twice and found she did not have all her faculties, and both her vision and hearing were, unsurprisingly, poor.
Clark's will was filed on June 22, 2011 in Surrogate's Court. The last will and testament was made in 2005 and left 75% of her estate, about $300 million, to charity. Her longtime nurse, Hadassah Peri, received about $30 million, her goddaughter, Wanda Styka, received about $12 million and the newly created Bellosguardo Foundation $8 million. Other employees who managed her residences received smaller sums. Her attorney and accountant each received $500,000. One of 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...
's 250 oil paintings inspired by Water Lilies
Water Lilies
Water Lilies is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet . The paintings depict Monet's flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of Monet's artistic production during the last thirty years of his life...
(Nymphéas) in his Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
flower garden was bequeathed to the Corcoran Museum of Art. She purchased the 1907 painting from Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1930.
In November 2011 it was announced that an earlier will, signed one month earlier than the filed last will and testament and leaving Clark's estate to her family, was discovered.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/huguette-clark-will_n_1118409.html
Death and interment
Clark died at Beth Israel Medical CenterBeth Israel Medical Center
Beth Israel Medical Center is a 1,368-bed, full-service tertiary teaching hospital in New York City. Originally dedicated to serving immigrant Jews living in the tenement slums of the Lower East Side, it was founded at the turn of the 20th century. The main hospital location is the Petrie...
on the morning of May 24, 2011, two weeks short of her 105th birthday. She had been moved a month earlier to an intensive-care unit and later to a room with hospice care. She had been living at Beth Israel under pseudonyms; the latest was Harriet Chase. The room was guarded and she was cared for by part-time private nurses. Her room on the 3rd floor had a card with the fake room number "1B" with the name "Chase" taped over the actual room number. A criminal investigation into the handling of her money was ongoing at the time of her death.
She was interred on the morning of May 26, 2011, in the family mausoleum in section 85 of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx before the cemetery gates were open to the public. Her attorney said she had specific instructions that no funeral service or mass be held. In 2008, Clark's representatives obtained consent from other Clark family members to alter the mausoleum originally commissioned by her father. It was not until early 2011 that the mausoleum was altered to accommodate her entombment.
External links
- http://www.clark.msnbc.comSpecial report by Bill DedmanBill DedmanBill Dedman, an American journalist, is an investigative reporter for news site msnbc.com and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting....
on Huguette Clark and the men managing her money], msnbc.com, February 2010 - "'Princess' of Beth Israel", New York Post, August 27, 2010
- "Lawyer for reclusive 104-year-old heiress Huguette Clark defends handling of her fortune", New York Daily News, August 27, 2010
- "Who's Watching Huguette's Millions?", The Santa Barbara Independent, August 26, 2010.
- New York Daily News article, September 7, 2010