Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Van Horne, William Cornelius, Sir, 1843-1915

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role Collector
dates 1843-1915
city Montreal
other citiesJoliet, IL; St. Andrews, New Brunswick; Cuba; Sandusky, OH;
countryCanada
sex M
historical notes Sir William Cornelius Van Horne was an art collector and railroad man.

Van Horne collected Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Flemish, American and French art. The collection also included Chinese and Japanese Porcelain, Greek statuary, and models of ancient ships.

Van Horne owned work by, or attributed to, Toulouse-Lautrec, Albert P. Ryder, Paul Cézanne, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Honoré Daumier, Eugène Delacroix, Matthew Maris, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet, Mary Cassat, Velázquez, Martínez del Mazo, El Greco, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Francisco de Zurbarán.

Van Horne was the President of the Southern Minnesota Railway, General Superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul railway. He served as General Manager, Vice President and finally President of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

He was founder and President of the Cuba Company, President of the Cuba Railroad Company, the Canadian Salt Lake Company, and the Northwest Land Company.
Van Horne served as Director for other companies, they included, among others, the Dominion Iron and Steel Company, the Royal Trust Company, the Duluth & South Shore Railway Company, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company, Directorship of the Rio de Janeiro Tramway, Light and Power Company, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York and the Winnipeg Electric Railway Company.

Van Horne lent art work to the Hudson-Fulton Celebration in 1909, Aelbert Cuyp, River View - now in private collection.
In 1867 he married Lucy Adeline, daughter of Erastus Hurd, Galesburg, Illinois.
decades
of activity
1870-1880
1880-1890
1890-1900
1900-1910
1910-1920
updated 02/07/2020 18:21:14
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Archives/Repository Collection Title Collection Details
Archives of American Art
Victor Building, Suite 2200
August Jaccaci papers, 1889-1935 (bulk 1904-1914). see details...
University of Maryland College Park Libraries
Historical Manuscripts
Archives of the Cuba Company, 1894-1960. see details...
National Archives of Canada
Library and Archives Canada


Sir William Van Horne fonds see details...