Marie Norton
Encyclopedia
Biography
She was born in 1903, her grandfather was Benjamin F. Einstein who was the attorney to the New York Times and a shareholder in several advertising companies whose main client was the Times. She was the first wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt WhitneyCornelius 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....
from 1923 to 1929, with whom she had two children, Harry Payne Whitney II and Nancy Marie Whitney. Her second marriage was to statesman W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
.
From 1930 to 1942 Marie Norton owned and operated an art gallery on 57th Street in Manhattan, the Marie Harriman Gallery . Henri Matisse attended the glittering opening of the gallery, which featured important works of Derain, Gaugin, Van Gogh and Matisse . Many of the works she bought and collected, including those of the artist Walt Kuhn
Walt Kuhn
Walt Kuhn was an American painter and was an organizer of the modern art Armory Show of 1913, which was the first of its genre in America.-Biography:Kuhn was born in Brooklyn, New York City...
, were later donated to the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, DC .
Marie was a close friend of Marjorie Duchin, wife to bandleader Eddy Duchin
Eddy Duchin
Eddy Duchin was an American popular pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage personality, his elegant piano style, and his fight against leukemia.-Early career:...
, and when Marjorie died from complications in childbirth, Marie became surrogate mother to their son, Peter Duchin
Peter Duchin
-Life and career:Duchin was born in New York City, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs, a Newport, Rhode Island and New York City socialite who died unexpectedly when he was just five days old. He was raised by close family friends, statesman W...
.
Marie Norton died September 26, 1970 at George Washington University Hospital
George Washington University Hospital
The George Washington University Hospital is a hospital in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It opened on On August 23, 2002, with 371 beds in a 400,000 sq. ft. building, housing than $45 million of medical equipment and cost more than $96 million to construct...
in Washington, DC of a heart attack.