A Vanderbilt & Whitney Legacy Part II: The Collection of Marylou Whitney & John Hendrickson

• A Vanderbilt & Whitney Legacy Part II: The Collection of Marylou Whitney & John Hendrickson

• Auction of Contents of The Marylou Whitney Farm, Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 10am

• Elegant Furniture, Artwork, Silver, Racing Memorabilia, Decorations and More

NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle is honored to auction Part II of the landmark sale of A Vanderbilt & Whitney Legacy: The Collection of Marylou Whitney & John Hendrickson on Wednesday, February 11, 2026 at 10am. This second session will present furniture, artwork, silver, racing memorabilia, decorations and more from The Marylou Whitney Farm of Lexington, Kentucky. The auction follows the highly successful November 2025 sale of the contents of Cady Hill, the Saratoga Springs, New York residence of the Whitney family.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (1899-1992)
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, known both as “C.V.” and “Sonny,” was a distinguished figure whose life embodied the legacy of two of America’s most storied families—the Vanderbilts and the Whitneys. The son of businessman and Thoroughbred breeder Harry Payne Whitney and his wife, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, he inherited a deep connection to both industry and art. A financier, philanthropist, and passionate horseman, Whitney carried forward the family’s celebrated tradition in Thoroughbred racing. Beyond the racetrack, he was a co-founder of Selznick International film studio and co-founder and the first president of Pan American Airways.

Marylou Whitney (1925-2019)
In 1958, C.V. married Marie Louise Schroeder Hosford, who would become known to the world as Marylou Whitney, a sparkling hostess and tireless advocate for the sport of thoroughbred racing. The Whitney House—later known as The Marylou Whitney Farm—in Lexington, Kentucky became through Marylou’s warmth and hospitality a social and cultural hub within the Bluegrass community. Following Cornelius’s death in 1992, Marylou continued her deep involvement in the racing community and later married John Hendrickson, with whom she shared her passion for philanthropy and horse racing.

Artwork
The Collection is especially rich in equestrian art spanning two generations of collecting by the Vanderbilt/Whitney family. Outstanding offerings include eight horse portraits by Henry Stull (1851-1913), as well as works by Richard Stone Reeves (1919-2005), Peter Williams (1934-2018), and Charles Cary Rumsey (1879-1922).

Of particular note are several sculptures by C.V.’s mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), including a bronze bust of young C.V. and two stone sculptures. Other artists represented in the Collection include Henry Lawrence Faulkner, Eugene Edward Speicher, Henry Hecht Maik, Thomas Birch, Paul-Emile Pissaro and Raphael Soyer.

Silver
The silver section of the Collection brings together more than sixty lots, including silver with Vanderbilt provenance reflecting the opulence of the Gilded Age. Among the highlights are wedding gifts presented to Gertrude Vanderbilt on the occasion of her 1896 marriage to Harry Payne Whitney at The Breakers, the lavish Newport residence of her parents, Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne Whitney. An elaborate seven-piece repoussé tea and coffee service with matching tray by Howard & Co. of New York was a gift from her grandmother, Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt, and a pair of five-light candelabra and four candlesticks by Howard & Co. were gifts from her aunt, Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard.

Other notable silver includes a George III silver-gilt epergne by Emick Romer, London, 1769; a pair of late 19th century silver-gilt wine coolers by Boin-Taburet, Paris; a pair of silver-gilt wine and water ewers by Sydney Bellamy Harman, London, 1910; a Tiffany & Co. flatware service in the Faneuil pattern; and a variety of polo, yachting and other sporting trophies.

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