Sunday, May 5, 2019

R.I.P: Jayne Wrightsman

Jayne Wrightsman via NYSD

I was interested to read about the passing of the late connoisseur of French decorative arts, Jayne Wrightsman, the wife of Charles Wrightsman -who was known as Charlie.  Old Charlie was an heir to standard oil in Oklahoma and Kansas and Jayne was a party girl in Los Angeles before she became Mrs. Charles Wrightsman- what a fabulous legacy she left behind- the Wrightsman Galleries at the Met are my personal favorite.

My client whom I had mentioned yesterday had given me a copy of the Michael Gross book "740 Park" when we first met- Which I really enjoyed and still reference occasionally so I did not realize that Mr. Gross had come out with a sequel to that book.  "Rogues' Gallery, The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money that Made the Metropolitan Museum" - Apparently this book sheds light on how the very rich in Manhattan would use the museum for social entrée including Mr. and Mrs. Wrightsman- So of course I jumped on Amazon and ordered a copy!  I found it interesting that the Wrightsmans were considered nouveau, but I suppose I should not be surprised -

It would be fun and interesting to hear what Gloria Vanderbilt would have to say about the social ascent of Mr. and Mrs. Wrightsman in Palm Beach and New York-  I was Browsing some of the quintessence videos on YouTube and came across this fabulous one about Gloria  Apparently her son is helping her sell her art on her Instagram account and she's having a great success!  As I've written here before on my design blog Ms. Vanderbilt has always been and always will be a great inspiration to me.  She is the eternal definition of style and New York elegance!  DF

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