Jayne Kirkman Wrightsman (née Larkin; October 21, 1919 – April 20, 2019) was an American philanthropist, arts collector and widow of
Charles B. Wrightsman (1895–1986). She was named to the
International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1965. She was a resident and president of the
co-op board at
820 Fifth Avenue.
Biography
She was born in Michigan, and grew up in Los Angeles.
Beginning in 1952, she and her husband amassed the finest private collection in the US of the decorative arts of the ''
ancien régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{{disambig ...
'', ultimately donating many objects (comprising the Wrightsman Galleries) to the
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 ...
in New York.
[A Guide to the Wrightsman Galleries]
at The 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 ...
. Retrieved 6 August 2014. Jayne Wrightsman also served as a member of the museum's
100th Anniversary Committee and was elected to the board of trustees in 1975.
in 1994 Wrightsman gave an impressionist painting by Claude Monet entitled "Le Repos Dans le Jardin, Argenteuil," to the Metropolitan, but it was discovered to have been looted by Nazis from a Jewish collector during the Holocaust and was sold in 2002 following a settlement with the Newman family.
In December 2012, ''Magnificent Jewels from the Collection of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman'' raised $15,541,188 at auction with
Sotheby's
Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
, New York.
Wrightsman died on April 20, 2019, aged 99.
See also
* ''
Study of a Young Woman'' (Vermeer)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrightsman, Jayne
1919 births
2019 deaths
People from Flint, Michigan
Philanthropists from Michigan
American art collectors
American socialites
Jewellery collectors
American collectors
People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century American women philanthropists