Wendell Cherry (September 25, 1935 – July 16, 1991) was an American lawyer, entrepreneur, art collector and patron. The company he co-founded,

Humana Humana Inc. is a for-profit American health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2021, the company ranked 41 on the Fortune 500 list, which made it the highest ranked (by revenues) company based in Kentucky. It has been the thir ...

, grew under his leadership to become the largest hospital operator in the United States. In the 1980s he also built one of the country's most important art collections.

Life and career

Cherry was born in 1935 in Horse Cave, a rural community in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, to a grocery wholesaler, Layman S. Cherry, and his wife, Geneva (born Spillman). He was a member of the

Kappa Sigma Fraternity Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraterniti ...

, studied business administration and graduated in 1957. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1959. During this time he worked as chief editor of the ''

Kentucky Law Journal The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Universit ...

''.

Family

Cherry first married Mary Elizabeth Baird. Then married interior designer Dorothy O'Connell, and lived in Louisville and New York.

Sports promoter

Cherry belonged in the 1960s to a group of citizens from Louisville, who supported Louisville native

Cassius Clay Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

(later known as Muhammad Ali) in his early heavyweight boxing career. He worked as a lawyer for the group, collecting money from the sponsors for Clay.

Art collector

The American art magazine ''

Art & Antiques ''Art & Antiques'' is an American arts magazine. History 1984 launch ''Art & Antiques'' launched its premier issue in March 1984. While the magazine disclaimed any connection to a previous publication of the same name, the company had in fact b ...

'' named Cherry in 1985 among the 100 most important art collectors of the United States. The reputation of his collection was not only because of the quality of the works, but also for the sometimes very high prices that he paid for these pictures and scored from subsequent sales. A record-breaking example of these works was

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

's self-portrait '' Yo, Picasso''. Cherry purchased the picture in 1981 at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

for $5.3 million, at the time the highest amount ever paid for a Picasso painting.

Philanthropy

Cherry was one of the driving forces in establishing The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in 1983. From 1980 to 1987, he led this institution as CEO (board chairman). In 1990, he acquired the painting ''Funeral of a Mummy'' by American painter

Frederick Arthur Bridgman Frederick Arthur Bridgman (November 10, 1847 – January 13, 1928) was an American artist known for his paintings of " Orientalist" subjects. Life and career Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, Bridgman was the son of a physician. He began as a dr ...

for the

Speed Art Museum The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...

in Louisville, on whose board he was a member. In the field of academia, Cherry endowed the

University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Universit ...

with $100,000 for the H. Wendell Cherry Professor of Law. He also endowed two chairs dedicated to medicine at the

School of Medicine A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...

, the Wendell Cherry Chair in Clinical Trial Research and The Wendell Cherry Chair in Cancer Translational Research.

References

Sources

* John E. Kleber: ''The Encyclopedia of Louisville''. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington 200, . * Sotheby's New York (Hrsg.): ''Property from the Estate of Wendell Cherry''. Auctions Catalog Sale 6565, Sotheby's New York, New York 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Wendell 1935 births 1991 deaths American art collectors American patrons of the arts People from Hart County, Kentucky Businesspeople from Louisville, Kentucky University of Kentucky College of Law alumni University of Louisville faculty 20th-century American businesspeople