11/04/2025 General, General Paintings, General Furniture & Decorative Arts
Doyle’s November 12 auction of A Vanderbilt & Whitney Legacy: The Collection of Marylou Whitney & John Hendrickson offers a glimpse into the world of two storied American families through Marylou’s former husband, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, known as “C.V.” and “Sonny.” He was born into two of the most powerful and influential families in American history — the Vanderbilts and the Whitneys — whose names defined wealth, culture, and achievement during the Gilded Age.
A Vanderbilt Scion
On his mother’s side, C.V.’s great-grandfather was “The Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), the shipping and railroad magnate who built one of America’s greatest fortunes. His grandparents, Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899) and Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt (1845-1934), built two of the most magnificent residences of the era. Their palatial New York mansion at 1 West 57th Street — now the site of Bergdorf Goodman — was the largest private home ever constructed in the city. Their summer residence in Newport, Rhode Island, The Breakers, remains the most lavish and enduring symbol of Newport’s storied “cottages.”
His mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), was a pioneering sculptor, art collector, and philanthropist, who broke from the rigid social conventions of her class to become a leading figure in American modern art. In 1931, she founded the Whitney Museum of American Art dedicated to supporting and promoting living American artists — a radical and enduring cultural legacy. (A selection of lots with Vanderbilt provenance: lot 104, lot 94, lot 105, lot 22, lot 66)
A Whitney Heir
C.V.’s paternal grandfather, William Collins Whitney (1841-1904), was a towering figure in finance and politics, moving seamlessly between Wall Street and Washington. A co-founder of the Guaranty Trust Company (which later merged with J.P. Morgan & Co.), he built a fortune in utilities, street railways, and banking, and served as Secretary of the Navy under President Grover Cleveland, spearheading the modernization of the U.S. fleet.
C.V.’s father, Harry Payne Whitney (1872-1930), was one of America’s most celebrated polo players and thoroughbred racing owners, establishing a racing dynasty whose silks of Eton blue and brown dominated tracks for decades. Beyond racing, he financed mining and transportation ventures, expanding the Whitney legacy into new economic frontiers.
C.V. spent his childhood amid great privilege on the family’s various estates, including Cady Hill in Saratoga, influenced by his mother’s cultural philanthropy and his father’s sporting and civic pursuits — experiences that would shape his life’s work.
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PanAm & Aviation
Upon graduating from the Groton School in 1917, C.V. enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps for pilot training and was commissioned as a flight instructor. After the war, he entered Yale University, where he met Juan Trippe. In 1927, Whitney helped finance Trippe’s Aviation Corporation of America, which became Pan American Airways. As Chairman, C.V. oversaw Pan Am’s expansion into the Pacific and joined several pioneering flights to Asia. He returned to service in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Air Force in 1947, later becoming Under Secretary of Commerce in 1949-1950. (View lots relating to PanAm)
Hollywood
C.V. played a notable role in early Hollywood as both financier and producer. He was a major investor in Technicolor and co-produced with Selznick International such classic films as A Star Is Born (1937), Rebecca (1940) and Gone with the Wind (1939). Later, through his own company, C.V. Whitney Pictures, he produced The Missouri Traveler (1958), The Young Land (1959) and The Searchers (1956), a landmark Western directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.
Thoroughbred Racing
C.V. represented the third generation of the Whitney family deeply involved in thoroughbred horse racing. A three-time U.S. Open Polo champion, he acquired his father’s famed racing stable, Whitney Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1930 and went on to become one of the sport’s most successful owners and breeders, producing 176 stakes winners and capturing the Belmont Stakes twice. Among his finest horses was Top Flight, a two-time American Champion filly later inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, which Whitney helped found in Saratoga Springs in 1950. (Read more about the Whitney family’s racing legacy)
Marylou Whitney
Marylou Whitney, born Marie Louise Schroeder in Kansas City, Missouri, met C.V. Whitney in 1958 through friends in Phoenix, Arizona, where he persuaded her to audition for his film, The Missouri Traveler (lot 58). The couple married later that year. Marylou embraced her husband’s passion for racing and quickly became the beloved “Queen of Saratoga,” celebrated for her lavish galas and theatrical entrances — arriving by hot-air balloon, coronation carriage, or in elaborate costume. Beyond her flair for glamour, she was a committed philanthropist, supporting the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Following C.V.’s death in 1992, Marylou carried on the Whitney legacy in thoroughbred racing through her own Marylou Whitney Stables, achieving an impressive record of success. (Read more about Marylou and racing)
In 1997, Marylou married John Hendrickson (1965-2024), and together they continued her cultural and philanthropic work, including funding major projects in Saratoga Springs, such as the Radiation Oncology Center at Saratoga Hospital, Centennial Park, and the Backstretch Appreciation Program, in support of the racetrack workers.
The rarified world of the Vanderbilts and the Whitneys, steeped in art, racing, and philanthropy, left a lasting imprint that continues to fascinate us today. A Vanderbilt & Whitney Legacy: The Collection of Marylou Whitney & John Hendrickson invites collectors to experience this remarkable legacy firsthand and offers a rare opportunity to own pieces that capture the spirit, sophistication, and storied lineage of two of America’s most celebrated families.
Auction Wednesday, November 12, 2025 at 10am
Exhibition November 8 – 10
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