Henry F. du Pont and Winterthur: A Daughter`s Portrait - Hardcover

Ruth Lord

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300070748 ISBN 13: 9780300070743

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1999

Synopsis

World renowned for its vast woodland gardens, its 175-room house, and its unrivaled collection of American decorative arts, Winterthur in Delaware is today among the most beloved museums in the United States. In its earlier days Winterthur was the family home where Ruth du Pont Lord grew up and where her father, Henry F. du Pont (1880–1969), envisioned and then brought to fruition his great museum of Americana.
In this memoir, Ruth Lord engagingly describes the development of Henry F. du Pont from a shy, lonely child, a seemingly hopeless student who had bad times at school, to a man who went on to achieve singular distinction in three disparate fields―as art connoisseur, horticulturist, and eminent cattle breeder. Based on her personal experience, and on extraordinary family archives, the author provides a behind-the-scenes view of the legendary lifestyle of the du Pont family, brings to life other family members, including her brilliant mother and irrepressible aunt, Louise Crowninshield, and tells of her father’s many additional activities, which culminated in his leadership role in Jacqueline Kennedy’s White House restoration.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Lord, the younger daughter of Henry F. du Pont, spent much of her childhood at Winterthur. She is a research affiliate of the Child Study Center, Yale University, and a co-author of When Home Is No Haven: A Casebook of Child Placement Issues, published by Yale University Press.

Reviews

Lord's touching memoir centers on the fabulously wealthy father she hardly knew, who was, by turns, mild-mannered and imperious. Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969) was a collector of Americana and the founder of the Winterthur Museum near Wilmington, Del., which opened in 1951 on a site that was originally his home and whose decorative arts and lavish gardens continue to be a national treasure. When Henry, a solitary, inhibited Harvard student, lost his mother at age 22, his emotional devastation led to his decision to "give up feeling." After 14 years of bachelorhood, his marriage in 1916 to the vivacious Ruth Wales (the author's mother) helped him rejoin the human race. But Henry, by this account, remained an aloof, controlling parent. Lord draws on letters, journals, family archives and interviews with relatives to fashion an unusually candid family portrait. Her gallery of the du Pont clan reaches well beyond her immediate forebears, extending from French aristocrat/economist/political theorist Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739-1817) to Delaware gunpowder magnate Eleuthere Ir?n?e du Pont (d. 1834), to the author's pompous, irritable grandfather Henry Algernon du Pont, a Civil War hero. Her portrait of du Pont also includes his 1961-1962 collaboration with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to restore the White House's 1802 interior design, as well as his successful campaign to save New York's Cooper Union Museum. Lord successfully mingles tart wit, honest introspection and filial concern as she reaches the conclusion that the Winterthur "represented for [her father] a surrogate son..
- a surrogate son."
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A great-grandson of industrial magnate E. I. du Pont, Henry Francis lived at Winterthur near Wilmington, Delaware, from 1880 until 1969. Winterthur was the mansion originally built in 1839 for James Bidermann and Henry's great-aunt Evelina. Henry took over the estate in 1926 and began numerous renovations to the home, immediately doubling its size. Over time Winterthur grew to more than 175 rooms furnished with thousands of pieces of furniture and art objects. In 1951, much of the home was turned into the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. At the same time, the estate's gardens nurtured by du Pont became showplaces of their own. Well known for his visionary collections, du Pont went on to advise Jacqueline Kennedy on her successful effort to restore the White House. Du Pont's daughter Ruth Lord grew up at Winterthur amidst these lavish surroundings, and now she paints this loving biography. Building on her own memories with material from extensive family archives, she details her father's achievements as a horticulturist, cattle breeder, and art connoisseur and collector. David Rouse

Lord, daughter of Henry F. du Pont (18801969), has written a memoir of her father and his times. Her book is also the story of the beloved family home, Winterthur, which has become a renowned museum. Lord, a research affiliate at Yales Child Study Center, devotes most of the memoir to her parents, Henry F. du Pont and Ruth Wales du Pont, and her aunt, Louise Crowninshield. Lord describes her fathers various accomplishments as art connoisseur, horticulturist, and cattle breeder. Two of his major achievements were the opening of the Winterthur Museum and his work on the restoration of the White House during the Kennedy administration. This is both a firsthand account of growing up in a remarkable family and the story of a multitalented man. It is also an inside look at the establishment and history of the Winterthur Museum. Genealogical charts and bibliographical references are included. Recommended for both history and fine arts collections in academic and public libraries.Lucy T. Heckman, St. Johns Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300070748
• ISBN 13: 9780300070743
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 322