Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (January 9, 1875 – April 18, 1942) was an American
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, art patron and collector, and founder in 1931 of the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, who was born into the wealthy
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanth ...
and married into the
Whitney family
The Whitney family is a prominent American family descended from non-Norman English immigrant John Whitney (1592–1673), who left London in 1635 and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. The historic family mansion in Watertown, known as The Elm ...
.
Early life
Gertrude Vanderbilt was born on January 9, 1875, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, the second daughter of
Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Cornelius "Corneil" Vanderbilt II (November 27, 1843 – September 12, 1899) was an American socialite
and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family.
Noted forebears
He was the favorite grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbil ...
(1843–1899) and
Alice Claypoole Gwynne (1852–1934), and a great-granddaughter of "Commodore"
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
. Her older sister died before Gertrude was born, but she grew up with several brothers and a younger sister.
[ The family's New York City home was an opulent mansion at 742–748 ]Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...
., also known as 1 West 57th Street. As a young girl, Gertrude spent her summers in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
, at the family's summer home, The Breakers
The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family.
The 70-room mans ...
, where she kept up with the boys in all their rigorous sporting activities. She was educated by private tutors and at the exclusive Brearley School
The Brearley School is an American all-girls private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It educates approximately 770 girls in grades K–12, with approximately 50 to 65 students per grade.
In addition to being a member ...
for women students in New York City.[ She kept small drawings and watercolor paintings in her personal journals which were her first signs of being interested in the arts.]
Education and early work
While visiting Europe in the early 1900s, Gertrude Whitney discovered the burgeoning art world of Montmartre
Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
and Montparnasse
Montparnasse () is an area in the south 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. It is split betwee ...
in France. What she saw encouraged her to pursue her creativity and become a sculptor.
She studied at the Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists.
Although artists may study f ...
with Hendrik Christian Andersen and James Earle Fraser.[ Other women students in her classes included Anna Vaughn Hyatt and ]Malvina Hoffman
Malvina Cornell Hoffman (June 15, 1885July 10, 1966) was an American sculpture, sculptor and author, well known for her life-size bronze sculptures of people. She also worked in plaster and marble. Hoffman created portrait busts of working-class ...
. In Paris she studied with Andrew O'Connor[Opitz, Glenn B, editor, Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers, Apollo Book, Poughkeepsie NY, 1986] and also received criticism from Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
.[Friedman, B.H., Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Doubleday and Company New York, 1978] Her training with sculptors of public monuments influenced her later direction.[ Although her catalogs include numerous smaller sculptures,] she is best known today for her monumental works.
Her first public commission was ''Aspiration'', a life-size male nude in plaster, which appeared outside the New York State Building at the Pan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...
in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, in 1901.
Initially she worked under an assumed name, fearing that she would be portrayed as a socialite and her work not taken seriously. Neither her family nor (after her marriage) her husband were supportive of her desire to work seriously as an artist. She once told an artist friend, "Never expect Harry to take your work seriously ... It never has made any difference to him that I feel as I do about art and it never will (except as a source of annoyance)." She believed that a man would have been taken more seriously as an artist, and that her wealth put her in a lose-lose situation: criticized if she took commissions because other artists were more needy, but blamed for undercutting the market for other artists if she was not paid.[
In 1907, Whitney established an apartment and studio in ]Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
. She also set up a studio in Passy
Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, on the Rive Droite, Right Bank. It is adjacent to Auteuil, Paris, Auteuil to the southwest, and Chaillot to the northeast.
It is home to many ...
, a fashionable Parisian neighborhood in the XVI arrondissement.
By 1910, she was exhibiting her work publicly under her own name.[ ''Paganisme Immortel'', a statue of a young girl sitting on a rock, with outstretched arms, next to a male figure, was shown at the 1910 ]National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
. ''Spanish Peasant'' was accepted at the Paris Salon in 1911, and ''Aztec Fountain'' was awarded a bronze medal in 1915 at the San Francisco Exhibition.[ Her first solo show occurred in New York City in 1916.] The first charity exhibition she organized was in 1914 called the ''50-50 Art Sale''.
World War I and its aftermath
During World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Gertrude Whitney dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a fully operational hospital for wounded soldiers in Juilly, about northwest of Paris in France.[
While at this hospital, Gertrude Whitney made drawings of the soldiers which became plans for her memorials in New York City.] Her work prior to the war had a much less realistic style, which she strayed away from to give the work a more serious feeling. In 1915, her brother Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt perished in the sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania''.
She completed a series of smaller pieces realistically depicting soldiers in wartime, but her smaller works were not seen as particularly significant during her lifetime. Since her death critics have recognized the expert craftsmanship of her smaller works.
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1919 Touchstone 190 Chateau Thierry.jpg, ''Chateau Thierry''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1919 Touchstone 189 His Last Charge.jpg, ''His Last Charge''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1919 Touchstone 191 Found.jpg, ''Found''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1919 Touchstone 192 Engineers.jpg, ''Engineers''
In addition to participating in shows with other artists, Whitney held a number of solo exhibitions during her career. These included a show of her wartime sculptures at her Eighth Street Studio in November 1919;[ a show at the ]Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
, March 1 to April 15, 1923;[ and one in New York City, March 17–28, 1936.][ The majority of works created in this period of her work were made in her studio in Paris.] The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
held a commemorative show of her works in 1943.[
]
Sculptures from her 1936 show
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1936 Catalog John.jpg, ''John''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1936 Catalog Salome.jpg , ''Salome''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1936 Catalog Gwendolyn.jpg , ''Gwendolyn''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1936 Catalog Woman and Child.jpg , ''Mother and Child''
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1936 Catalog frontis.jpg, Untitled
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1936 Catalog Sketch.jpg , ''Sketch''
Public sculptures
Following the end of the War, Whitney was also involved in the creation of a number of commemorative sculptures. During the 1920s her works received critical acclaim both in Europe and the United States, particularly her monumental works. During the 1930s, the popularity of monumental pieces declined. Whitney's last pieces of public art were the ''Spirit of Flight'', created for the New York World's Fair of 1939,[ and the ''Peter Stuyvesant Monument'' in New York City.]
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's numerous works in the United States include:
* ''Aztec Fountain'' – Pan American Union Building, Washington, D.C., 1912[
* ''Fountain of El Dorado'' – 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, California
* Two reliefs on the ''Victory Arch'' – ]Madison Square
Madison Square is a public square 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 Founding Father James Madison, the fourth president of the United St ...
, New York City, 1918–19
* Washington Heights-Inwood War Memorial – Mitchell Square Park, Washington Heights, New York City, erected 1922
* '' Buffalo Bill - The Scout'', William F. Cody Memorial – Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in and the county seat of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Buffalo Bill Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896.
The population was 10,028 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, making Cod ...
, dedicated 1924
* ''Untermyer Memorial'', Woodlawn Cemetery, New York City, 1925
* '' The Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution'', a memorial honoring the four founders – Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C., dedicated 1929; Whitney was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War.
A non-p ...
.
* ''Titanic'' Memorial – Washington, D.C., unveiled 1931
* ''Peter Stuyvesant Monument'', New York City, 1936–1939
* ''To the Morrow'', vt. ''Wings'', vt. ''Spirit of Flight'',[ created for the World's Fair in New York, 1939]
File:'War Panel for the Victory Arch' by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Wolfsonian-FIU Museum I.JPG, ''Victory Arch'', one of two bronze reliefs, New York City
File:Mitchel Square World War I memorial.jpg , Washington Heights-Inwood War Memorial (World War I), New York City
File:Titanic Memorial (Washington, D.C.).jpg , ''Titanic'' Memorial, Washington, D.C.
File:The Scout by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.jpg , '' Buffalo Bill - The Scout'', Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in and the county seat of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Buffalo Bill Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896.
The population was 10,028 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, making Cod ...
File:Monumento a Cristobal Colón, Huelva..JPG , '' Monument to Columbus, Huelva
Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...
, Spain
File:The Three Graces - 1931 - Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney - 06.jpg , '' The Three Graces'', McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, Montreal, Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada
File:Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution cropped.JPG , '' The Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution'', Washington, D.C.
File:St-nazaire monument au mort americain.JPG , '' American Expeditionary Forces Memorial'', Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...
, France
File:Stuyvesant Square Peter Styvesant statue.jpg , ''Peter Stuyvesant'', New York City
File:Patio and central fountain, Pan American Union.jpg , ''Aztec fountain'', Pan American Union Building, Washington, D.C.
File:Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Fountain of El Dorado 1915 Zenis Newton.jpg , ''Fountain of El Dorado'', detail, 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition
Whitney's ''Titanic'' Memorial is considered by critics as the most important achievement in her artistic career. The statue was built from a $50,000 prize from a competition that she won in 1914.
Whitney also created works which are now in other countries, including the '' American Expeditionary Forces Memorial'' in St. Nazaire Harbor in Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...
, France (1924). The Government of France purchased a marble replica of the head of the Titanic Memorial, which is now housed in the Musée du Luxembourg
The () is a museum at 19 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' Medici cycle by Peter Paul Rubens) an ...
.
Whitney sculpted the Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
memorial, the Monument to Columbus (also known as "Monument to the Discovery Faith"), in Huelva
Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...
, Spain (1928–1933). With a cubist style, it is one of her biggest works.
In 1931 Whitney presented the ''Caryatid Fountain'' to McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada. The fountain is also referred to as ''The Good Will Fountain'', ''The Friendship Fountain'', ''The Whitney Fountain'', '' The Three Graces'' and, because it consists of three nude males, ''The Three Bares''. There is also a bronze version of this fountain in Washington Square in Lima, Peru
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
.
Influence in art
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, supporting and exhibiting in women-only shows and ensuring that women were included in mixed shows. She supported exhibition of artwork both locally and around the country, including the 1913 Armory Show
The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...
in New York. Whitney also donated money to the Society of Independent Artists founded in 1917, which aimed to promote artists who deviated from academic norms. She actively bought works from new artists including the Ashcan School
The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods.
T ...
.[ In 1922, she financed publication of ''The Arts'' magazine, to prevent its closing.][ She was the primary financial backer for the "International Composer's Guild," an organization created to promote the performance of modern music.]
By 1908, Whitney had opened the ''Whitney Studio Gallery'' in the same buildings as her own studio on West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...
. Artists such as Robert Henri
Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher.
As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...
and Jo Davidson
Jo Davidson (March 30, 1883 – January 2, 1952) was an American sculptor. Although he specialized in realistic, intense portrait busts, Davidson did not require his subjects to formally pose for him; rather, he observed and spoke with them. ...
were invited to showcase their works there. In 1914, Gertrude Whitney also established the ''Whitney Studio Club'' at 147 West 4th Street, as an artists' club where young artists could meet and talk, as well as exhibit their works.[ She provided nearby housing many of them, as well as stipends for living costs at home and abroad.] The Whitney Studio Club expanded again when its headquarters were moved back from West Fourth Street to West Eighth Street in 1923. Thus, the club expanded both in size and scope of programming. These early galleries would evolve to become Whitney's greatest legacy, the Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
, on the site of what is now the 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 o ...
.
In 1929, Whitney offered the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
the donation of her twenty-five-year collection of nearly 700 American modern art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...
works and full payment for building a wing to accommodate these works. Her offer was declined because the museum would not take American art, and in 1931, Whitney decided to create her own museum by renovating and expanding on one of her own studios. Whitney appointed Juliana Force
Juliana Force (December 25, 1876 – August 28, 1948) was the founding director of the Whitney Museum of Art in the United States. During the Great Depression she was the administrator of Region 2 (New York City and State) of the New Deal-era Pub ...
, who was formerly her assistant since 1914, to be the museum's first director. The museum aimed to embrace modernism, shifting away from the notions that American art was largely rural and narrow in scope.
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
George Benjamin Luks (August 13, 1867 – October 29, 1933) was an American artist, identified with the aggressively realistic Ashcan School of American painting.
After travelling and studying in Europe, Luks worked as a newspaper illustrator a ...
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.
Her Greenwich Village studio has been named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...
, giving it landmark status.
When Whitney died in 1942, the Whitney Museum of American Art was cleared of the debt it owed her and granted $2.5 million of her money.
Personal life
Gertrude had a dear friend named Esther in her youth with whom a number of love letters were uncovered which made explicit the desires both had for a physical relationship that surpassed friendship. Esther was the daughter of Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...
, the architect who had built Gertrude's family home in New York City and summer home—The Breakers
The Breakers is a Gilded Age mansion located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, US. It was built between 1893 and 1895 as a summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family.
The 70-room mans ...
—in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as many of the other Vanderbilts' mansions. Gertrude considered it one of the "''thrills of my life, when Esther kissed me,''" and her mother, Alice, was so concerned about the friendship that she forbade Gertrude to see Esther. The separation seemed to have worked; for while Esther continued to write heartbroken letters of longing, Gertrude went on to have a bevy of male beaux.
At age 21, on August 25, 1896, she married the extremely wealthy sportsman Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeding, horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.
Early years
Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as ...
(1872–1930). A banker and investor, Whitney was the son of politician William Collins Whitney
William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent member of the Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cleveland from ...
and Flora Payne, the daughter of former U.S. Senator from Ohio Henry B. Payne, and sister to a Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
Company magnate. Harry Whitney inherited a fortune in oil and tobacco as well as interests in banking.[ In New York, the couple lived in town houses originally belonging to William Whitney, first at 2 East 57th St., across the street from Gertrude's parents, and after William Whitney's death, at 871 Fifth Avenue.] They also had a country estate in Old Westbury, Long Island.[ Gertrude and Harry Whitney had three children:
* Flora Payne Whitney (1897–1986)
*]Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Cornelius "Sonny" Vanderbilt Whitney (February 20, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player and the owner of a significant stable of Thorough ...
(1899–1992)
*Barbara Whitney (1903–1983; 1960, to George W. Headley).
Harry Whitney died of pneumonia in 1930, at age 58, leaving his widow an estate valued at $72 million. In 1934, she was at the center of a highly publicized court battle with her brother Reginald's widow, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt
Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (born Maria Mercedes Morgan; 23 August 1904 13 February 1965) was an American socialite. Vanderbilt was the mother of fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist Anders ...
, for custody of her ten-year-old niece, Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Laura Vanderbilt (February 20, 1924 – June 17, 2019) was an American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, heiress, and socialite. During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother, ...
. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney did win custody of her niece at the end of the custody battle.
Gertrude Whitney died on April 18, 1942,[ at age 67, and was interred next to her husband in Woodlawn Cemetery in ]The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, New York City. The reported cause of her death was from a heart condition. Her daughter Flora Whitney Miller assumed her mother's duties as head of the Whitney Museum, and was succeeded by her daughter, Flora Miller Biddle.
Awards and honors
* Medal of Award at Panama-Pacific Exhibition for ''Fountain of El Dorado'', 1915[
* Associate member of ]National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding member ...
, 1916[
* Medal from the New York Society of Architects for the Mitchel Square ''World War I memorial'', 1923
* Honorary degree, New York University, 1922][
* Honorary degree, Tufts University, 1924][
* Bronze medallion at ]Paris Salon
The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
for ''Buffalo Bill – The Scout'', 1924[
*]French Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
medal, 1926[
* Honorary degree, Rutgers University, 1934][
* Elected an honorary member of the ]American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...
, 1934
* Honorary degree, Russell Sage College, 1940[
* Associate of ]National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
, 1940
* Medal of Honor of the National Sculpture Society, 1940
In popular culture
In the 1982 television miniseries '' Little Gloria... Happy at Last'', Whitney was portrayed by actress Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...
, who earned an Emmy nomination for her performance.
In 1999, Gertrude Whitney's granddaughter, Flora Miller Biddle, published a family memoir entitled ''The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made''. She was also the subject of B. H. Friedman's 1978 ''Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney: A Biography''.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt
20th-century American sculptors
1875 births
1942 deaths
American art collectors
American art patrons
American people of Dutch descent
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American socialites
American women in World War I
Art Students League of New York alumni
Artists from New York City
Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)
People associated with the Whitney Museum of American Art
Daughters of the American Revolution people
People from Greenwich Village
Philanthropists from New York (state)
Sculptors from New York (state)
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney
Museum founders
American women founders
20th-century American women sculptors