Jayne wrightsman biography
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Jayne Wrightsman and The Costume Institute
Harold Koda, Former Curator in Charge, The Costume Institute
Clothing is an especially potent representation of aesthetic sensibility. Even an erratic sampling of an individual's wardrobe, over their lifetime, is as much biography as it is documentation of period style. The collection of The Costume Institute, therefore, focuses on works implicitly freighted with the history of the people who wore them. Moreover, its archives, here in an art museum, must address artistic achievement in relation to the works in its sister departments.
Given her discerning eye for paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts, it is not surprising that Mrs. Wrightsman included in her contributions to the Metropolitan garments that are significant in their artistic merit. A number of the most exquisite works of haute couture from the second half of the twentieth century are from Mrs. Wrightsman's wardrobe. Presented to the Museum over five decad
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Jayne Wrightsman
American philanthropist and art collector (1919–2019)
Jayne Wrightsman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jane Kirkman Larkin (1919-10-21)October 21, 1919 Flint, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | April 20, 2019(2019-04-20) (aged 99) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Socialite, philanthropist, collector, museum patron |
| Spouse | Charles B. Wrightsman |
Jayne Kirkman Wrightsman (née Larkin; October 21, 1919 – April 20, 2019) was an American philanthropist, arts collector and widow of Charles B. Wrightsman (1895–1986). She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1965.[1] She was a resident and president of the co-op board at 820 Fifth Avenue.
Biography
[edit]She was born in Michigan, and grew up in Los Angeles.[2]
Beginning in 1952, she and her husband amassed the finest private collection in the US of the decorative arts of the ancien régime, ultimately donating many objects (comprising the Wrightsman Galleries) to
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A Look at Jayne Wrightsman’s Jewelry
Jewelry History
The celebrated art collector had a juvel box filled with treasures
by Marion Fasel
The life of Jayne Wrightsman, who died on Sunday, April 20, 2019 at age 99, was celebrated in obituaries filled with superlatives about the masterpieces she and her oil tycoon husband, Charles B. Wrightsman, donated to museums around the world. The New York Times story said, “While she was not well known to the public — a status she preferred — Mrs. Wrightsman was arguably the most important patron in the modern history of the Met, and was a great patron of the British Museum, the Louvre and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, as well.”
The Wrightsmans were also famous for their homes and the 18th and 19th century furniture collection they accumulated and donated to the Met. It filled 13 period rooms at the museum. Mrs. Wrightsman’s knowledge about French décor was so comprehensive when her friend Jackie Kennedy was renovating the