| Meyer, Agnes Elizabeth Ernst, 1887-1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| type | Collector | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| dates | 1887-1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| city | New York City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| state | NY | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| other cities | Pelham, NY; Paris, France; Mt. Kisco, NY; Washington, DC; | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| sex | F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| history |
Daughter of German immigrant Frederic H. Ernst and his wife Lucy Schmidt Ernst, Agnes was educated at public schools in New York, and later attended Barnard College, graduating in 1907. She was hired as a reporter for the New York Sun, reputedly one of the first women to work in the city room of a metropolitan newspaper. In 1907 she went to France to study at the Sorbonne, and in 1911-1912 she attended graduate school at Columbia University. While at the Sun, Agnes first met Alfred Stieglitz, and began her association with the modern art movement in New York. In February 1910, Agnes married Eugene Meyer (1875-1959), an investment banker who later held government appointments as director of the War Finance Corporation (1918), head of the Federal Farm Loan Board (1927), and the first president of the World Bank (1946). In 1933, Eugene Meyer purchased the Washington Post at auction for $825,000; Agnes was a vice president of the company and also contributed articles. Agnes Ernst Meyers was involved in numerous diverse activities throughout her life. She authored four books, including a scholarly publication on Chinese art, and during World War II wrote a series of widely circulated stories on social conditions in Great Britain during the blitz. She and her husband founded the Agnes and Eugene Meyer Association, which distributed millions of dollars to worthy causes. Mrs. Meyer was a generous patron and collector; her interests and collection of oriental art lead to the development of a friendship with Charles Lang Freer, serving for a time on the board of the Freer Gallery. [retrieved 4/16/2008, http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pbio?1319] Meyer's collection included work by Antoine-Louis Barye, Constantin Brancusi, Paul Cézanne, Charles Despiau, Edouard Manet, John Marin, Auguste Renoir, Diego Rivera, and Auguste Rodin. |
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| decades | 1910-1920 1920-1930 1930-1940 1940-1950 1950-1960 1960-1970 |
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| website | http://www.meyerfoundation.org | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| updated | 10/31/2024 13:33:19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| research links |
Search FRESCO (Frick Research Catalog Online) Search Worldcat Search Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF) Search Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) Search Wikidata Entry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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