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

Rating:
Summary: I tried very hard to like this book...
Review: "The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made" pays tribute to Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who founded the museum through sheer force of will and social power, and Flora Whitney Miller, her daughter, who gave us the enduring legacy through charm and persuasion. It is mostly, however, a memoir about the author, Flora Miller Biddle who is Flora Miller's daughter and Gertrude's granddaughter. This is disappointing because Gertrude and Flora (mère) are fascinating people. Flora (fille) is decidedly bourgeois by comparison.

In the preface, Mrs. Biddle reminds us "...this memoir does what all memoirs do; it tells only part of the story. Don't memoirs allow writers to keep from revealing all they know?" The sad truth is a reader can learn much more about Gertrude by reading "Little Gloria, Happy at Last". Mrs. Biddle admits she barely knew her grandmother, but surely this doesn't mean there is little to know or tell about her.

The Whitney was a family institution. Gertrude built it and dared New York to defy her taste in art. Flora (mère) had the grace, the connections, and the remnants of the inheritance to ensure its place in history. They may have been rich and from one of the most socially important families in New York, but this is an astonishing accomplishment for that time. Women simply didn't do these things. Oddly enough, the book takes this achievement for granted.

Mrs. Biddle has seen - not steered - the museum through its most difficult times, albeit in a role less grand than her mother's and grandmother's. At the same time, Flora, like Flora (mere), has not lost focus of Gertrude's mission to serve the living American artist; not simply be a repository for early to mid twentieth century American art. We are all richer for this achievement.

It is quite an insight into a museum I have visited since I was a child. Who would have though how disorganized it was? How desperate at times! It is a tribute to the author and her family that they had the vision to recognize the Whitney could not survive as a family institution.

The relationship the author has had with so many of the artists is awe-inspiring. It is a gift so great she doesn't seem to realize it and these characters, which should fascinate, seem cardboard. The book is a strange combination of chronography and reminiscence; its structure is hard to follow. The author is constantly lamenting that her family is no longer fabulously wealthy (for the museum's sake, of course) which is tiresome. Mrs. Biddle makes quite a show of her rebellion against her parents' society lives and her strive towards 'normalcy'. Sadly, this does not seem to have made her happy.

I love the museum and learned much of the concealed history of an old friend. This got me through the book. If you're genuinely interested in the Whitney Museum of American Art you should read it. If you're looking for the story of four generations of women, for the drive and energy it took them to build and maintain this remarkable institution you may be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Good for gossip, but not for substance
Review: Although I like this book for what it is, it isn't exactly what I expected it to be when I bought it. I expected the book to give much more insight into the actual creation of the Museum by Gertrude, but for the most part that aspect is just gleemed over. Also, as another reviewer has pointed out, the contributions of Julianna Force are barely even mentioned in the book. If you didn't know better, you'd think Julianna did next to nothing the whole time she worked there, which is more than a little untrue.

However, it must be noted that Ms. Biddle says first and foremost that her book is a "memoir," and as such certain factual omissions might be expected. Consequently, the book is filled from nearly beginning to end with quite a bit of gossip that those interested in the Vanderbilt or Whitney families or in museum politics will find terribly interesting.

What I got most from the book though is the wonderful sense of supreme devotion that Flora Whitney Miller must have had to the Museum and to her mother Gertrude's memory. This was illustrated time and time again when Flora donated more of her money and capital to keep the Museum functioning in a way that befitted her mother's name. As other members of the Whitney family have shown in recent times, a single painting of the calibur that Flora Miller sold for the Museum's sake could have set her heirs up for life, had she chosen not to sell it and had passed it on.

The book also seems to give insight into the recent controversies at the Whitney involving the display of Hans Haacke's controversial art display, with different members of the Whitney family taking different sides. After reading this book, it's obvious that certain ill feelings by some members of the family for others go back many, many years.

In summary, if you like gossip, then this book is for you. If not, there are other books about the Whitneys that might be of more interest to you.

Rating:
Summary: Good for gossip, but not for substance
Review: Although I like this book for what it is, it isn't exactly what I expected it to be when I bought it. I expected the book to give much more insight into the actual creation of the Museum by Gertrude, but for the most part that aspect is just gleemed over. Also, as another reviewer has pointed out, the contributions of Julianna Force are barely even mentioned in the book. If you didn't know better, you'd think Julianna did next to nothing the whole time she worked there, which is more than a little untrue.

However, it must be noted that Ms. Biddle says first and foremost that her book is a "memoir," and as such certain factual omissions might be expected. Consequently, the book is filled from nearly beginning to end with quite a bit of gossip that those interested in the Vanderbilt or Whitney families or in museum politics will find terribly interesting.

What I got most from the book though is the wonderful sense of supreme devotion that Flora Whitney Miller must have had to the Museum and to her mother Gertrude's memory. This was illustrated time and time again when Flora donated more of her money and capital to keep the Museum functioning in a way that befitted her mother's name. As other members of the Whitney family have shown in recent times, a single painting of the calibur that Flora Miller sold for the Museum's sake could have set her heirs up for life, had she chosen not to sell it and had passed it on.

The book also seems to give insight into the recent controversies at the Whitney involving the display of Hans Haacke's controversial art display, with different members of the Whitney family taking different sides. After reading this book, it's obvious that certain ill feelings by some members of the family for others go back many, many years.

In summary, if you like gossip, then this book is for you. If not, there are other books about the Whitneys that might be of more interest to you.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the American art historian/student
Review: While I certainly enjoyed the Vanderbilt and Whitney family backgrounds, I found nothing worth noting in this book regarding the early days of the Whitney Museum. I purchased the book because I am writing a research paper on the founding of the Whitney Museum. Alas, the book focuses much on the fate of the Museum after Gertrude Whitney's death. There is very little detail or specifics concerning her role in the Museum, nor that of the main catalyst, Julianna Force.

I will say that the book is a good, juicy look into the aristocratic Vanderbilt family, but that's about it.

There is focus on later years, but very few details concerning the early days of the Museum.

I'll shelve it for now and save it for a rainy day!

Rating:
Summary: Not for the American art historian/student
Review: While I certainly enjoyed the Vanderbilt and Whitney family backgrounds, I found nothing worth noting in this book regarding the early days of the Whitney Museum. I purchased the book because I am writing a research paper on the founding of the Whitney Museum. Alas, the book focuses much on the fate of the Museum after Gertrude Whitney's death. There is very little detail or specifics concerning her role in the Museum, nor that of the main catalyst, Julianna Force.

I will say that the book is a good, juicy look into the aristocratic Vanderbilt family, but that's about it.

There is focus on later years, but very few details concerning the early days of the Museum.

I'll shelve it for now and save it for a rainy day!