Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's Birthday: 10 Things We Owe To The American Art Icon (PHOTOS)

Today is the birthday of American sculptor and art icon, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. The pioneering art patron who founded New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art would turn 137 if she were miraculously still alive today.

Gertrude was born into the illustrious Vanderbilt family in 1875, and endowed with all the extravagances afforded to her by her well-heeled last name. She acquired her second famous surname, Whitney, at the age of 21, when she married Harry Payne Whitney. But the female artist, known for her large-scale public sculptures and memorials, was by no means constrained by the successes of her various relatives. On the contrary, the iconic figure paved her own way in the realms of art and fashion, going down in history books as one of the most influential art patrons of the 20th century.

From Paris to New York City, Whitney spent her early career training at well-known institutions such as the Art Students League of New York. It was the connections within the contemporary art world, as well as her family's great wealth, that allowed a young Gertrude to delve into the craft of art collecting and patronage. She gravitated toward American artists whose work had been snubbed by critics and academicians of the time, prompting her to form one of the first young artist facilities in Greenwich Village in 1914. The Whitney Studio as it was called would later grow into the famed Whitney Museum, Gertrude's lasting legacy.

While Gertrude spent much of her time cultivating the careers of artists like Robert Henri, George Luks and Arthur B. Davies, she continued to create sculpture throughout her life.

The Whitney Museum remains one of the most prestigious art havens in the United States, thanks in large part to Gertrude, her daughter Flora Whitney-Miller, and her granddaughter Flora Miller Biddle, who published the memoir "The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made." Scroll through a slideshow of the "8 Things We Wouldn't Have Without Gertrude" and let us know how you will celebrate the inspiring woman's birthday in the comments section.

• The Whitney Studio Club

  Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney established the Whitney Studio Club in 1914 to foster the careers of young emerging artists. The studio would later turn into the Whitney Museum after the Metropolitan Museum of Art rejected the donation of over 500 artworks from her personal collection. The building on 8th street is now the home of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture.

• The Whitney Museum of American Art

  We wouldn't have the Whitney Museum of American Art without its namesake, of course. Established in 1929, the Whitney's permanent collection now comprises <a href="http://whitney.org/Collection">more than 19,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, films, videos, and new media</a>.

• Christopher Columbus Memorial in Huelva, Spain

  Gertrude Whitney sculpted the Christopher Columbus memorial, called "Monumento a la Fe Descubridora" (Monument to the Discovery Faith), in Huelva, Spain. The cubist-like statue is one of her largest works ever designed.

• The Titanic Memorial

  The Titanic Memorial is located on the Southwest Waterfront in Washington, D.C. The statue honors the brave men who gave their lives so that others might be saved during the RMS Titanic disaster. Whitney won the commission in an open competition, and the work was then sculpted by John Horrigan from a single piece of red granite. The memorial is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• The Scout

  "The Scout" sculpture in Cody, Wyoming, is the result of Whitney's pull. Placed there in 1924, the memorial commemorates the town's most famous resident and de facto founder, Buffalo Bill Cody. Whitney was persuaded by Cody's niece, Mary Jester Allen, to create the bronze statue.

• Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution Memorial

  Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney designed a 1929 marble sculpture for the Founders of the Daughters of the American Revolution. (Whitney was a noted member of the organization.)

• Stuyvesant Square's Peter Styvesant Statue

  Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's statue of Peter Stuyvesant in the western portion of Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan is another one of the many hidden NYC memorials designed by the American artist.

• The Whitney Biennial

  The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932 under the helm of Gertrude, but the first official biennial wasn't until 1973. Nonetheless, the contemporary show, widely regarded as one of the leading spectacles in the art world, would never have started without the pioneering vision of Ms. Vanderbilt Whitney. IMAGE: Visitors view Dawn Kasper's installation 'This Could Be Something if I Let It, 2012' at a press preview of the 2012 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art on February 27, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/gertrude-vanderbilt-whitney-birthday-10-things-american-art-icon_n_2435108.html

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