Today’s Tame Portrait

Or, Yesterday’s Sensation

Tame today, this portrait of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was scandalous in 1916. So scandalous that her husband, Harry Payne Whitney, refused to hang it in their 5^th Avenue home. He didn’t want their friends to his wife “in pants.”

Gertrude hung it instead at the Whitney Studio Club, her atelier and refuge for artists on 8^th Street. The Whitney Studio Club was a meeting place for artists to take classes, visit exhibits, and display their work.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, by Robert Henri, 1916—looking crooked!

That’s who Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was—an artist with the means to support other artists.

Gertrude supported artists by buying and exhibiting their art. She worked to increase their exposure at a time when Americans preferred European art. Even in 1914 when she formed her Club, Gertrude knew her mission—to champion American artists, a mission her (fabulous) namesake museum continues to this day.

She tapped Robert Henri to paint this portrait. An interesting choice. Henri was the leader of the Ash Can School, a group that painted scenes of daily life in New York, often in poor neighborhoods.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was about as far from that as you could get. So far that I have to think she picked Henri on purpose, as an inside joke.

Henri rose to the challenge. Gertrude’s portrait is lively and bold. Her pose is relaxed. She slouches on a sofa atop a purple blanket, a color that sets off her aqua pants and cerulean jacket with vibrant yellow trim.

It was that outfit—often referred to as pajamas—that made the portrait scandalous. I imagine Gertrude wore comfortable clothes like this in her Club. Among her artist friends, she didn’t have to wear formal, furred, outfits like the one below.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney on the SS Paris, four years later, in 1920

I love how Robert Henri handled her hands. He doesn’t shy away from them. Instead, he makes the left one the bright focus of the dark negative space, and he uses the other to draw our eye out the back of the sofa. At the same time, her hands display her wealth—those rings! Chef’s kiss!

And yes, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney had wealth to display. Not only was she born into the Vanderbilt railroad fortune, she married into the Whitney family, they of cotton gin fame. And yet, she wears it all lightly in this portrait.

Her hand, those rings and necklace, that brushwork, this cacophony of colors!

A true visionary, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney used her money for good—to support artists like Robert Henri during his lifetime, and thousands more since she established the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1931.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney where she was most comfortable, amid her own art.

Speaking of artists and art, my chapbook of poems about Picasso’s models and my own modeling jobs is in pre-sales for two more weeks. That means 14 days remain to buy it at the lowest price it’ll ever be. @$20, will support me on my journey into print.

Click here to get there: The Higher Call

Not only will you get a chapbook of poems in August, you’ll have my deep gratitude.

Stay tuned next week when I’m back with more art! Maybe another Warhol.

Once again, thanks for following along on my journey into print.