John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was
U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the president of the United States and the American government to the monarch ...
, publisher of the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'', and 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 th ...
. He was a member of the
Whitney family
The Whitney family is an American family notable for their business enterprises, social prominence, wealth and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney (1592–1673), who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. The historic f ...
.
Early life
Whitney was born on August 17, 1904, in
Ellsworth,
Maine, Whitney was a descendant of John Whitney, a
Puritan who settled in
Massachusetts in 1635, as well as of
William Bradford, who came over on the ''
Mayflower''. His father was
Payne Whitney, and his grandfathers were
William C. Whitney and
John Hay, both
presidential cabinet members. His mother was
Helen Hay Whitney
Helen Julia Hay Whitney (March 11, 1875 – September 24, 1944) was an American poet, writer, racehorse owner/breeder, socialite, and philanthropist. She was a member by marriage of the prominent Whitney family of New York.
Early life
She was t ...
.
The Whitneys' family mansion,
Payne Whitney House
The Payne Whitney House is a historic building at 972 Fifth Avenue, south of 79th Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed in the High Italian Renaissance style by architect Stanford White of the firm McKi ...
on New York's
Fifth Avenue, was around the corner from
James B. Duke House, home of the founder of the
American Tobacco Co., father of
Doris Duke
Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious l ...
. Whitney's uncle,
Oliver Hazard Payne
Oliver Hazard Payne (July 21, 1839 – June 27, 1917) was an American businessman, organizer of the American Tobacco trust, and assisted with the formation of U.S. Steel, and was affiliated with Standard Oil.
Early life
Oliver Hazard Payne wa ...
, a business partner of
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
, arranged the funding for Duke to buy out his competitors.
Jock Whitney attended
Groton School, then
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
. He joined
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter), as his father had. Whitney, his father, grandfather, and great-uncle were oarsmen at Yale, and his father was captain of the crew in 1898. He was a member of
Scroll and Key
The Scroll and Key Society is a Collegiate secret societies in North America, secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Collegiate secret societies in North America#Yale University, Y ...
. While at Yale, he inspired the coining of the term "
crew cut
A crew cut is a type of haircut in which the upright hair on the top of the head is cut relatively short, graduated in length from the longest hair that forms a short pomp ( pompadour) at the front hairline to the shortest at the back of the cr ...
" for the haircut favored by the rowing crew which still bears the name. After graduating in 1926, Whitney went to
Oxford University, but the death of his father necessitated his returning home. He inherited a trust fund of $20 million (approximately $210 million in 2005 dollars), and later inherited four times that amount from his mother.
Career
Business career
In 1929, Whitney, despite his vast wealth, was a clerk at the firm of
Lee, Higginson & Co
Lee, Higginson & Co. was a Boston-based investment bank established in 1848 that was the home of many members of the Boston Brahmin establishment. The bank collapsed in the Swedish match scandal in 1932 while under the leadership of Jerome Davis ...
where, through his boss, J.T. Claiborne, Jr., he met former Lee, Higginson clerk
Langbourne Meade Williams, Jr., who had come to Claiborne for help in his efforts to gain control of
Freeport Texas Co. Williams was a scion of a founding investment firm in the
sulfur mining company. In 1929, the year after Whitney became one of the wealthiest men in America, through inheritance, Williams enlisted the help of Whitney's boss, who then enlisted Whitney's financial participation, in his efforts to oust founder and Chairman Eric P. Swenson, casting Whitney in the role of
corporate raider before the term existed. Whitney was soon Freeport's biggest shareholder, enabling Williams to replace the chairman and his management team. Claiborne was made a vice-president; Williams became Freeport's president in 1933, and Whitney was appointed chairman of the board.
In 1946, Whitney founded
J.H. Whitney & Company,
the oldest venture capital firm in the U.S., with
Benno C. Schmidt, Sr.—who coined the term "venture capital"—with J. T. Claiborne as a partner. Whitney put up $10 million to finance entrepreneurs with business plans who were unwelcome at banks. Companies Whitney invested in included
Spencer Chemical and
Minute Maid.
In 1958, while he was still ambassador to the United Kingdom, his company Whitney Communications Corp. bought the ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'', and was its publisher from 1961 to its closure in 1966. He was chairman of the
International Herald Tribune
The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be sai ...
from 1966 until his death. Whitney Communications also owned and operated other newspapers, magazines and broadcasting stations. Whitney's television stations were sold to
Dun & Bradstreet
The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company offers a wide range of products and services for risk and financia ...
in 1969.
Theatre and motion pictures
Whitney invested in several
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
shows, including
Peter Arno's 1931 revue ''Here Goes the Bride'', a failure that cost him $100,000, but was more successful as one of the backers of ''
Life with Father
''Life with Father'' is a 1939 play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, adapted from a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day. The Broadway production ran for 3,224 performances over 401 weeks to become the l ...
''.
An October 1934 ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' article on the
Technicolor Corporation
Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...
noted Whitney's interest in pictures. He had met Technicolor head
Herbert Kalmus
Herbert Thomas Kalmus (November 9, 1881 – July 11, 1963) was an American scientist and engineer who played a significant role in developing color motion picture film. Kalmus was the co-founder and president of the Technicolor Motion Picture C ...
at the
Saratoga Race Course
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actual ...
. In 1932, Technicolor achieved a breakthrough with its three-strip process.
Merian C. Cooper
Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893 – April 21, 1973) was an American filmmaker and Academy Award winner, as well as a former aviator who served as an officer in the United States Air Force and Polish Air Force. In film, he is credited ...
of
RKO Radio Pictures approached Whitney with the idea of investing in Technicolor. They joined forces and founded
Pioneer Pictures
Pioneer Pictures, Inc. was a Hollywood motion picture company, most noted for its early commitment to making color films. Pioneer was initially affiliated with RKO Pictures, whose production facilities in Culver City, California were used by Pion ...
in 1933,
with a distribution deal with RKO to distribute Pioneer's films. Whitney and his cousin
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 ...
bought a 15% stake in Technicolor.
Whitney was also the major investor in
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture.
...
's production company
Selznick International Pictures
Selznick International Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio created by David O. Selznick in 1935, and dissolved in 1943. In its short existence the independent studio produced two films that received the Academy Award for Best Picture� ...
, putting up $870,000 and serving as chairman of the board. He put up half the money to option
Margaret Mitchell's ''
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind most often refers to:
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell
* ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel
Gone with the Wind may also refer to:
Music
* ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
'' for the
Selznick film version, in which he then invested, and later in ''
Rebecca'' (1940).
Military career
Whitney served in the
United States Army Air Forces as an
intelligence officer during
World War II, assigned to the
Office of Strategic Services. He was taken prisoner by the Germans in southern France, but escaped when the train transporting him to a
POW camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...
came under
Allied fire.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Whitney inherited his family's love of horses, a predilection he shared with his sister,
Joan Whitney Payson. Jock and his sister ran
Greentree Stables in the U.S., owned by their mother. In 1928, he became the youngest member ever elected to
The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...
.
Whitney and his first wife "Liz" raced horses both in the United States and in Europe. He owned
Easter Hero
Easter Hero (1920–1948) was an Irish-bred British-trained racehorse who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1929 and 1930 and made three unsuccessful attempts to win the Grand National. He showed little early promise and was passed from owner to o ...
who won the 1929 and 1930 editions of the
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...
. In the 1929
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...
, his horse twisted a plate and was beaten by a nose at the finish. Although Whitney entered the Grand National annually, he never again came close to winning.
The Whitneys entered four horses in the
Kentucky Derby in the 1930s, "Stepenfetchit," which finished 3rd in 1932, "Overtime," which finished 5th in 1933, "Singing Wood," which finished 8th in 1934, and "Heather Broom," which finished 3rd in 1939.
Jock Whitney was also an outstanding
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...
player, with a four-goal handicap, and it was as a sportsman that he made the cover of the March 27, 1933, issue of ''
Time'' magazine.
In 2015, Whitney was posthumously inducted to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame as Pillar of the Turf.
Political life
Whitney was the major backer of
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
and a member of the
New York Young Republican Club. Eisenhower appointed him
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom,
a post held sixty years earlier by Whitney's grandfather
John Hay. Whitney played a major role in improving Anglo-American relations, which had been severely strained during the 1956
Suez Crisis, when Eisenhower demanded that the British, French and
Israelis
Israelis ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵלִים, translit=Yīśrāʾēlīm; ar, الإسرائيليين, translit=al-ʾIsrāʾīliyyin) are the citizens and nationals of the State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Jew ...
terminate their invasion of
Egypt.
Personal life
In 1930, Whitney purchased the
Llangollen estate as a bridal gift for his fiancée, the
Pennsylvania socialite
Mary Elizabeth "Liz" Altemus. It was a historic
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
farm just outside
Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 673 as of the 2010 census. It is the southernmost town along Loudoun County's shared border with Fauquier County.
Middleburg is known as the "Nation's Horse a ...
. They were married on September 23, 1931.
Although married to Altemus, Whitney was romantically linked to
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...
,
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
,
Paulette Goddard and
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
.
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
and
Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...
met at one of Whitney's parties. In the early 1930s, Jock Whitney began an affair with Nina Gore Vidal; at the same time Mary Altemus Whitney had an affair with Nina Vidal's husband
Eugene Vidal. The couple divorced in 1940,
but Liz Whitney remained at Llangollen for the rest of her life, becoming an internationally renowned horse breeder and a member of the
Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame.
On March 1, 1942, he married
Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney
Betsey Maria Cushing Whitney (May 18, 1908 – March 25, 1998) was an American philanthropist, a former daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later wife of U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St James's, John Hay Whitney.
Early li ...
, ex-wife of
James Roosevelt, son of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...
,
and adopted her two daughters:
*Kate Roosevelt Whitney
*
Sara Roosevelt Whitney (born March 13, 1932)
Whitney met
Fred Astaire in
New York City while the former was a student at
Yale University and they became lifelong friends, sharing a passion for horse racing. Whitney became a major investor in two of Astaire's
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
stage vehicles, ''
The Band Wagon
''The Band Wagon'' is a 1953 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. It tells the story of an aging musical star who hopes a Broadway show will restart his career. However, th ...
'' (1930) and ''
Gay Divorce
''Gay Divorce'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song " Night and Day" in which Astaire dan ...
'' (1932), and played a crucial role in securing for Astaire a contract with
RKO Pictures in 1933, using his contacts with
Merion C. Cooper - both men were board members of
Pan American Airways whose planes were prominently featured in Astaire's breakthrough film with
Ginger Rogers: ''
Flying Down to Rio'' (1933).
During the 1970s, Whitney was listed as one of the ten wealthiest men in the world. The residences at his disposal over the years included an estate on
Long Island; an
Atlantic Beach, NY beach house;
Greenwood Plantation
Greenwood Plantation is a plantation in the Red Hills Region of southern Georgia, just west of Thomasville. Its Greek Revival main house was built in 1838 and expanded in 1899. With .
The plantation includes 5,200 acres of forest used for quai ...
in Georgia; a townhouse and an elegant apartment in
Manhattan; a large summer house on
Fishers Island, near
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...
; a 12-room house in
Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...
, which the Whitneys used when they attended horse races; a golfing cottage in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
, where he was a member of the
Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does ...
; and a spacious house
Cherry Hill in Virginia Water,
Surrey, England, near the
Ascot Racecourse
Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and ...
. Mr. Whitney also owned an estate in
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the Sou ...
, which he considered his 'retirement' home and where he hoped to spend his final days.
Whitney died on February 8, 1982, at North Shore Hospital, Manhasset, Long Island, after a long illness
Philanthropy
Payne Whitney made substantial gifts to Yale, to the
New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the
New York Public Library. After his father's death, the family built the
Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale in his honor. The family also financed
Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic at
New York Presbyterian Hospital in 1932.
Whitney created the John Hay Whitney Foundation for educational projects in 1946.
The foundation provided fellowships to the racially and culturally deprived. He became a major contributor to Yale University, where he served as a Fellow of the corporation.
In 1951, he and his wife Betsey Cushing Whitney donated land from their "
Greentree
Greentree is a estate in Manhasset, New York on Long Island. The estate was constructed for businessman Payne Whitney in 1904 and was owned by members of the Whitney family for much of the 20th century. It is currently owned by the Greentree F ...
" estate in
Manhasset, New York
Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...
toward the building of North Shore Hospital. Currently called
North Shore University Hospital, it is the flagship hospital of the 3rd largest not-for-profit secular healthcare system in the United States, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.
In 1953, Whitney received
The Hundred Year Association of New York
The Hundred Year Association of New York, founded in 1927, is a non-profit organization in New York City that recognizes and rewards dedication and service to the City of New York by businesses and organizations that have been in operation in the ...
's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."
In the late 1960s/early 1970's John Hay Whitney donated two small parcels of land in Manhasset to the County of Nassau and to the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department. The Nassau County parcel was the new home for the 6th Police Precinct of the Nassau County Police, located at the S/E intersection of Community Drive and East Community Drive. Just east of the 6th pct, at 2 E Community Dr., the M-LFD parcel was the new home of Fire Company #2 of the M-LFD, where John Hay Whitney was voted in by the membership of Company number two as an Honorary Member of the company.
Museum of Modern Art
In 1930 Whitney was elected to the board of trustees 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 th ...
in New York City, and named President of the MoMA Film Library in 1935. In 1941 he succeeded
Nelson A. Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
as President of MoMA. In 1946 he succeeded Stephen C. Clark as chairman of the board of trustees
Art collection
When Whitney moved to England as United States ambassador, he took a number of his favourite artworks with him to enjoy during his posting. Before his return to the US, he agreed for the first time to loan part of his collection for the public to see. He provided the Tate Gallery with 56 paintings from the collection in England and specially brought in a further 11 paintings from the US. The exhibition, the John Hay Whitney Collection, ran from 16 December 1960 to 29 January 1961
In 1983 the National Gallery of Art, Washington held an exhibition of the John Hay Whitney Collection with paintings loaned by Whitney's wife, The Museum of Modern Art and Yale University Art Gallery
Among the paintings in his collection, Jock Whitney's prized possession was the ''
Bal au moulin de la Galette'' painted in 1876 by the French artist
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 "Re ...
.
In 1990, his widow put the painting up for auction with
Sotheby's,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
and it sold for US$78 million to
Japanese businessman,
Ryoei Saito was the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing in Japan.
He was noted for his purchase of expensive art. Specifically, at consecutive auctions by Christie's and Sotheby's in New York in mid May 1990, Saito bought Van Gogh's '' Portrai ...
.
Whitney's widow donated a number of paintings from his collection to the Greentree Foundation. One of those paintings by
Pablo Picasso,
Garçon à la pipe
''Garçon à la Pipe'' (English: ''Boy with a Pipe'') is an oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1905 when Picasso was 24 years old, during his Rose Period, soon after he settled in the Montmartre area of Paris. The painting ...
was auctioned by Sotheby's in May 2004 for $104 million
The following works have been publicly exhibited or sold from the former collection of John Hay Whitney.
*
Albert Marquet
Albert Marquet (27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more naturali ...
, The Beach at Trouville
*
Alfred de Dreux, Cheval Blanc Effraye Par L'orage
*
Alfred de Dreux, Moorish Groom
*
André Derain, Charing Cross Bridge
*
André Derain, Collioure Landscape
*
Balthus
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...
(Balthasar Klossowski): Le Salon
*
Bazille, Jean-Frédéric: Pots De Fleurs
*
Bernard Perlin, Vacant Lots
*
Berthe Morisot
Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (; January 14, 1841 – March 2, 1895) was a French painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists.
In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the highly es ...
, Hide and Seek (Cache-Cache)
*
Camille Pissarro
Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). Hi ...
, Jeanne with Flowers
*
Camille Pissarro
Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). Hi ...
, Pommes En Fleurs, Temps Gris, Eragny
*
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
, Bateaux Sur Le Galet
*
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
, Camille on the Beach
*
Edgar Degas, Avant la Course
*
Edgar Degas, Cheval de Selle
*
Edgar Degas, Chevaux de Course
*
Edgar Degas, La Promenade Des Chevaux
*
Edgar Degas, Le faux Depart
*
Edgar Degas, Le faux Depart (drawing)
*
Edgar Degas, Self Portrait
*
Édouard Manet, Les Courses au Bois de Bologne
*
Édouard Manet, Woman in a Decollete Gown
*
Édouard Vuillard, An Artist
*
Édouard Vuillard, Demoiselle en Rouge
*
Édouard Vuillard, Embroiders near a Window (Tapestry)
*
Édouard Vuillard, La Mère De Vuillard En Profil
*
Édouard Vuillard, Portrait of the Artist's Mother
*
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching.
Hopper created subdued drama ...
, Cape Cod Evening
*
Eugène Boudin
Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summa ...
, Hollyhocks
*
Eugène Boudin
Eugène Louis Boudin (; 12 July 18248 August 1898) was one of the first French landscape painters to paint outdoors. Boudin was a marine painter, and expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea and along its shores. His pastels, summa ...
, Roses
*
George Bellows, Club Night
*
George Bellows, Crowd at Polo
*
George Bellows, Introducing John L. Sullivan
*
Georges Braque, Bouteiile et Verre
*
Georges Braque, Les Cabines
*
Georges Braque, The Port of La Ciotat
*
Georges Seurat
Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough sur ...
, Grandcamp, Evening
*
Georges Seurat
Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough sur ...
, The Island of La Grande Jatte
*
Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...
, The Hound
*
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in "Chilperic"
*
Henri Fantin-Latour, Roses
*
Henri Fantin-Latour, Vase of Flowers
*
Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme et Volupte
*
Henri Matisse, Nature Morte au Purro II
*
Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure
*
Henri Rousseau, L'Heureux Quatuor (the Happy Quartet)
*
Henri Rousseau, Tropical Forest with Monkeys
*
Henri-Edmond Cross, Coast near Antibes
*
Henri-Edmond Cross, The Grape Harvest
*
Honoré Daumier
Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808February 10, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second Na ...
, Joueurs Des Cartes
*
James McNeill Whistler, Wapping on Thames
*
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot ( , , ; July 16, 1796 – February 22, 1875), or simply Camille Corot, is a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching. He is a pivotal figure in landscape painting and his vast o ...
, Chaumieres Et Moulins Au Bord D'un Torrent (Morvan Ou Auvergne)
*
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Still Life
*
John Constable, View of the back of a terrace of houses at Hampstead, with an elder tree
*
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and mor ...
, Robert Louis Stevenson
*
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and mor ...
, Venetian Courtyard
*
Kees van Dongen
Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a r ...
, Saida
*
Maurice de Vlaminck
Maurice de Vlaminck (4 April 1876 – 11 October 1958) was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse, he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauvism, Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to ...
, Tugboat on the Seine, Chatou
*
Maurice Utrillo
Maurice Utrillo (), born Maurice Valadon; 26 December 1883 – 5 November 1955), was a French painter of the School of Paris who specialized in cityscapes. Born in the Montmartre quarter of Paris, France, Utrillo is one of the few famous pain ...
, The Rue des Abbesses, Montmartre
*
Odilon Redon, Fleurs Dans Un Vase Vert
*
Pablo Picasso, Ace of Clubs
*
Pablo Picasso,
Garçon à la pipe
''Garçon à la Pipe'' (English: ''Boy with a Pipe'') is an oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1905 when Picasso was 24 years old, during his Rose Period, soon after he settled in the Montmartre area of Paris. The painting ...
Le jeune Apprenti
*
Pablo Picasso, Head of a Sleeping Woman
*
Pablo Picasso, Homme assis (seated man)
*
Pablo Picasso, Plant de Tomate
*
Pablo Picasso, Self Portrait
*
Pablo Picasso, Still Life (Le Journal)
*
Pablo Picasso, Still Life with a Bottle of Maraschino
*
Pablo Picasso, Still Life with Fruit and Glass
*
Pablo Picasso, Still Life with vase, Gourd and Fruit
*
Paul Cézanne, Route Tournante a Montgeroult
*
Paul Cézanne, Still Life With Curtain, Pitcher and Bowl of Fruit
*
Paul Gauguin, Parau-Parau
*
Paul Signac, Collioure Le Mohamed-El-Sadok
*
Paul Signac, Fishing Boats in the Sunset
*
Paul Signac, The Yawl
*
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 "Re ...
, La Foret de Marly
*
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 "Re ...
, La Yole
*
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 "Re ...
, Liseuse
*
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) 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 "Re ...
,
Bal du moulin de la Galette
''Bal du moulin de la Galette'' (commonly known as ''Dance at Le moulin de la Galette'') is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpi ...
*
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...
, Beach at Saint-Adresse
*
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...
, Fete a Sainte-Adresse
*
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...
, Jockeys et Turfistes À Epsom
*
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...
, Sailboats at Le Havre
*
Roger de La Fresnaye
Roger de La Fresnaye (; 11 July 1885 – 27 November 1925) was a French Cubist painter.
Early years and education
La Fresnaye was born in Le Mans where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed. The La Fresnayes were ...
, Still Life, Coffee, Pot and Melon
*
Rufino Tamayo
Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, ...
, Women
*
Sir Alfred Munnings
Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...
, Before the Start
*
Sir Alfred Munnings
Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...
, Leaving The Paddock At Epsom Downs
*
Sir Alfred Munnings
Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...
, The Red Prince Mare
*
Sir Alfred Munnings
Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several presti ...
, The Winner
*
Sir John Lavery
Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was a Northern Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions.
Life and career
John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, baptised at St Patrick's Church, Belfast an ...
, Weighing in at Sandown Park
*
Théo van Rysselberghe, Port Cette
*
Théodore Géricault, Cheval de Napoleon
*
Théodore Géricault, Officier de Cavalerie à Cheval
*
Théodore Rousseau
Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (April 15, 1812December 22, 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school.
Life
Youth
He was born in Paris, France in a bourgeois family.
At first he received a basic level of training, but soon displaye ...
, The Isle of Capri
*
Thomas Eakins, Baby at Play
*
Thomas Eakins, The Oarsmen
*
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...
, Les Oliviers, St Remy
*
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...
, Self Portrait
*
William Blake, The Good and Evil Angels Struggling For Possession of a Child
*
Winslow Homer
Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...
, Woodshopper in the Adirondacks
*Fosburgh, Daisies
Sources:
John Hay Whitney Collection (Catalogue), Tate Gallery, 1960, John Hay Whitney Collection (Catalogue), National Gallery of Art, 1983, Sotheby's Catalogue, auction 10 May 1999, Sotheby's Catalogue, auction 5 May 2004
Anecdotes
Whitney gave Fred Astaire a pair of big-wheel roller skates as a present. A few years later roller skating was one of his most important dance numbers on film.
Whitney and Jimmy Altemus provided the lyrics for a sing composed by Fred Astaire, "Tappin' the Time."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower took pains to transmit to Ambassador Whitney in London, by telegram, the first round golf scores of the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club on 5 April 1957.
Ambassador Whitney had a very demanding and exhausting scheduled but was not fazed by it. After having been to three or four receptions one day, his wife was not surprised to find their chauffeur, groggy from his rounds, dozing on the back seat of their limousine and the Ambassador driving the car.
Whitney: "I have just had a heart attack and am on a very strict diet. However if you will twist my arm a little, I will probably give in and we will consume a number of very large dry martinis"
William S. Paley (the legendary founder of CBS), who was Whitney's brother in law, had a gentle rivalry with Whitney. Once while watching television with Whitney at Greentree, Paley wanted to change the channel. 'Where's your clicker?' Paley asked, figuring Jock would have a remote-control switch at his fingertips. Jock calmly pressed a buzzer, and his butler walked up to the TV set to make the switch.
''The White House Is Nice, But It's No Greentree!'' E. J. Kahn, Mr. Whitney's biographer, reported that one of his daughters, Kate, once took her own children on a tour of the White House. Mr. Kahn wrote, ''After inspecting it, they pronounced it nice enough but hardly on a par with Greentree.
reentree was the more prestigious of his Long Island residences''
References
Sources
*
External links
*
Philadelphia Inquirer Obituary 9 Feb 1982*
Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department
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