Lily Auchincloss (née van Ameringen) (April 5, 1922 – June 6, 1996) was an American journalist, philanthropist, and art collector.
Early life
Lily Auchincloss was born in 1922 in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Arnold Louis van Ameringen (1891–1966), who was born in
the Netherlands
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, was the founder and later chairman of
International Flavors and Fragrances
International Flavors & Fragrances is an American corporation that produces flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic actives, which it markets globally. It is headquartered in New York City and has creative, sales, and manufacturing facilities in 44 di ...
and her mother was philanthropist
Hedwig Adele van Ameringen Hedwig may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Hedwig (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Grzegorz Hedwig (born 1988), Polish slalom canoeist
* Johann Hedwig, (1730–1799), German botanist
* Romanus Adol ...
(née Pfaltz) (1901–1996). She had two siblings, Henry P. van Ameringen and Patricia Kind (née van Ameringen). She attended
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
and graduated
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in 1944.
Career
While at Radcliffe, she met
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 pos ...
and
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer.
At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most im ...
, who helped instill her interest in architecture and design. After graduation, she worked in New York City as a writer and editor. She worked at '' Look'', ''World Telegram'', ''
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 ...
Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' and ''
McCall's
''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...
''.
Philanthropy
She was a noted philanthropist. She supported institutions and organizations such as 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 ...
American Academy in Rome
The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome.
The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers.
History
In 1893, a group of American architects, ...
. She became a trustee at The Museum of Modern Art in 1971 and served on numerous committees at the museum including painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, illustrated books, and architecture and design. She financed exhibitions about
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
Cy Twombly
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
Twombly is said to have influenced you ...
and Louis I. Kahn. MoMA named the Lily Auchincloss Study Center for Architecture and Design after her in 1994.
The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc., is a New York City non-profit grantmaking foundation.
Personal life
In 1956, she married Douglas Auchincloss, a writer at ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' and later the religion editor of ''
Time magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
''. The couple divorced in 1979. Together, they had:
*Alexandra Auchincloss, who married Paul Karel Herzan in 1987.
In 1980, she was inducted into the
International Best Dressed List
The International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame List was founded by fashionista Eleanor Lambert in 1940 as an attempt to boost the reputation of American fashion at the time. The American magazine ''Vanity Fair'' is currently in charge of the List a ...
.
Auchincloss died on June 6, 1996 of cancer in Manhattan.