Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s gold lamé and purple velvet gown, attributed to Charles James, circa 1940

Henri Bendel New York label, and additional label stamped with: ’MRS.H.P.WHITNEY 5979 x 40’, of complex construction, with hanging swags falling from the hips, pleated back panels, pleated bow to bust, purple velvet straps, trim and back panel, internal boning and breast pads, bust 81cm 32in, waist approx 61cm, 24in

The Vanderbilt Whitney Family
Auction: Richard Stedman Estate Services LLC, Tampa, FL, USA, ’Vanderbilt Family Gardens Archive 9 Estates’, July 22, 2023, lot 11
Private Collection
The present owner

Mrs H. P. Whitney, wife of American businessman Harry Payne Whitney, and better known as Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was a prolific sculptor, painter and, perhaps most prominently, a patron of the arts. She was born into great wealth as a Vanderbilt before marrying into the Whitney family, which allowed her to amass a formidable collection of art during her lifetime. Her tastes were somewhat radical, supporting American and female artists in the face of a typically male and Europe-centric mood of the day. In 1929, she offered to donate her 700-piece collection of American Art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, promising, as well, to build a new wing to house it all. However, as the MET would not accept American art at the time, her offer was declined. She chose instead then, to open her own ’Whitney Museum of American Art’ in 1930 to house her collection and continue to promote the modernising influence of American art in the broader aesthetic sphere.

A talented artist in her own right, she also housed several artists near her Greenwhich Village studio and paid stipends to help make ends meet. She often hosted elaborate parties in her Long Island estate where painters and sculptors intermingled with celebrities and exotic animals. No doubt, this magnificent dress by American couturier Charles James would have been perfectly suited to one of these influential events that aimed to further the cause of American cultural identity.

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