Blanchette Ferry Rockefeller (née Hooker; October 2, 1909 – November 29, 1992) was an American art sponsor, twice president of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, and wife of John D. Rockefeller III and mother of

Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Virg ...

Biography

Blanchette Ferry Hooker was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in New York City on October 2, 1909. She was the daughter of Elon Huntington Hooker, founder of

Hooker Chemical Company Hooker Chemical Company (or Hooker Electrochemical Company) was an American firm producing chloralkali products from 1903 to 1968. In 1922, bought the S. Wander & Sons Company to sell lye and chlorinated lime. The company became notorious in ...

, and his wife, Blanche Ferry. She graduated from Miss Chapin's School in 1927, where she was president of the student government. She graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

in 1931 with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in music. On November 11, 1932, she married John D. Rockefeller III, a

scion Scion may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Scion, a playable class in the game '' Path of Exile'' (2013) *Atlantean Scion, a device in the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series *Scions, an alien race in the video game ''B ...

of the prominent

Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family () is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by brot ...

, at

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...

in New York City. They had four children: * John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV *

Hope Aldrich Rockefeller Hope Aldrich Rockefeller (born May 17, 1938) is a retired American newspaper publisher and businesswoman. Rockefeller was born on May 17, 1938, the eldest daughter of philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller III and his wife Blanchette Ferry Hoo ...

*Sandra Ferry Rockefeller * Alida Ferry Rockefeller Blanchette devoted her time to community service, education, and the arts - in particular the collection of Asian and American art. "She had been active in the affairs of the Museum of Modern Art since 1949 and was elected a member of the Board of Trustees in December 1952. In 1958, at a time when many Americans derided modern art or thought it communist and subversive, Rockefeller lent her support to the International Program that helped send ''The New American Painting'', the first major exhibition of Abstract Expressionism, to eight European cities." Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Guest House, NYC, NY

Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Guest House, NYC, NY

In 1948, Blanchette Rockefeller commissioned the

Rockefeller Guest House The Rockefeller Guest House is a building at 242 East 52nd Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Situated on the southern sidewalk of 52nd Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, it w ...

by architect

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...

. Located at 242 East

52nd Street 52nd Street is a -long one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s. Jazz center Following the repeal of ...

next to the Turtle Bay Music School, it was one of the first residential buildings in New York City to reflect the influence of the Modern movement. The 1950 guest house was a place in which she could display her modern art collection and entertain friends. The Rockefellers donated the house (historically landmarked in 2000) to the Museum of Modern Art in 1955. "Blanchette Rockefeller provided enlightened leadership to MoMA as president of the museum from 1972 through 1985. Two of her most important gifts were

Willem de Kooning Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter El ...

’s ''Woman II'' (1952) and

Clyfford Still Clyfford Still (November 30, 1904 – June 23, 1980) was an American painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately follow ...

’s ''Painting'' (1951), an Abstract-Expressionist landscape. The Abstract Expressionist galleries on the second floor are named in her honor. In 1979 Rockefeller accepted an Oscar on behalf of MoMA’s work in film."Taken in whole or part from The Rockefellers maintained homes in New York City and at "Fieldwood Farm" in the expansive Rockefeller family estate of Pocantico (see

Kykuit Kykuit ( ), known also as the John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room historic house museum in Pocantico Hills, a hamlet in the town of Mount Pleasant, New York 25 miles north of New York City. The house was built for oil tycoon and Rockefelle ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. She died in her home near

Briarcliff Manor, New York Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor in ...

, of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

, a complication of Alzheimer's disease, on November 29, 1992, at the age of 83. Blanchette was buried at the Rockefeller Family Cemetery, Sleepy Hollow, New York. The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

in Morgantown, West Virginia is named in her honor.

References

External links

Blanchette H. Rockefeller Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockefeller, Blanchette Ferry Rockefeller family Philanthropists from New York (state) 1909 births 1992 deaths American socialites Vassar College alumni People from Briarcliff Manor, New York

Biography

See also

References

External links