The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made: A Family Memoir

by Flora Miller Biddle, Fiona Donovan (Foreword)

“Crucial in understanding the evolution of the American art scene.”—Library Journal

Until Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney opened her studio—which evolved into the Whitney Museum almost two decades later—on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan in 1914, there were few art museums in the United States, let alone galleries for contemporary artists to exhibit their work. When the mansions of the wealthy cried out for art, they sought it from Europe, then the art capital of the world. It was in her tiny sculptor’s studio in Greenwich Village that Whitney began holding exhibitions of contemporary American artists.

This remarkable effort by a scion of America’s wealthiest family helped to change the way art was cultivated in America. The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made is a tale of high ideals, extraordinary altruism, and great dedication that stood steadfast against inflated egos, big businesses, intrigue, and greed. Flora Biddle’s sensitive and insightful memoir is a success story of three generations of forceful, indomitable women.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Biography, Art History, Museums, History, Memoir

464 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 1999

Reviews

[Luciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wise and sweet. Enjoyed the read plenty xo

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not horrible writing, but not interesting enough to warrant additional stars. It's a very niche book. It is about the Whitney Museum, premier modern art museum in the world, transitioning from a single person whose wealth sustained it, to the next generation and the generation that transferred it away from the family to a diversified board. The main event takes place in 1989. You may ask why I continued to read it? My answer, one of greatest weakness is my inability to quit books. I will continue to work on it. I also have a fascination with the Vanderbilt family. Unimaginable wealth at the turn of the 18th century into nothing. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney started the Whitney Museum and funded it entirely during her life time, but the money ran out. The irony is all of this is Gertrude left her mark/name by building this museum. Little can be said for her family members of the same generation, female or male. This is written by her granddaughter and the difficult day to day workings it takes to keep a private museum open. As for me, this is 18 days of my life I will never get back. I have no one else to blame, but myself.

[Diane Yancilla Zuchnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book earlier than this stated date. That said, I was impressed by the strength of these Whitney women. It wasn't easy to do what they did, despite their wealth. After all, they're still women living and trying to sustain a place that existed no where else in the country, let alone the world.
Some parts, however, were a bit too "flowery" for my taste; that said, Biddle exposed some of the more unsavory episodes that put the museum in jeopardy a number of times. In all a worthy read about this wonderful institution of which I am a member.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if not perfectly written, memoir on the history of the Whitney museum. The second half of the book, which draws much more from the authors personal experiences, far outstrips the first half. Invaluable if you're interested in the world of New York art in the 1970s and 1980s.

[Theresa Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book memoir is okay. There is some very interesting information. There were lots of dry sections.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an ok read but, not as interesting about the Whitney Museum development as id wished.

[Jacque White · Rating 2 out of 5]

A history of rich white women, started it and simply couldn't be bothered to finish.

[Claudia Dalmau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice bibliography, glad I read it.
However, too much description which I wasn’t really interested in

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good

Heavy on the Vanderbilt and Whitney family history before getting to the museum. Logical that it was there, but I tuned out a bit until the museum content. Some juicy segments on American artworks, but mostly about the physical museum, expansions, and operation of the board. Plenty of drama at the top. Interesting stuff.

I listened to the Audible audiobook.

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this excellent book in a Goodreads giveaway. I have visited the Madison Avenue Whitney on my trips to New York, and enjoyed special exhibitions of Edward Hopper and The American Century. This book is a reissue of the 1999 book, with Whitney interest high as the new location opened in lower Manhattan in 2015. The book is at once a love letter to the legacy of the author's grandmother-museum founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney-and mother, Flora Whitney Miller, who guided her mother's museum and legacy through the mid-20th. century. At once love letter-and often brutal tale of the back room, back stabbing politics of running a private museum. The author pulls no punches in recalling her frustrations and betrayals in dealing with the very wealthy and powerful of New York in the latter decades of the 20th. century. These wealthy and powerful men, placed in positions of power as trustees and on the board, often had little or no interest in art. Indeed, money often trumps (!) art in this story. I hated to see the book end, and I felt I knew Flora Miller Biddle as a very strong and visionary woman who grew in her position and discovered strengths of which she was unaware.