Brigadier general Cornelius "Neely" Vanderbilt was a mechanical engineer and the son of Cornelius Vanderbilt (1843-1899) who inherited William H. Vanderbilt’s Barbizon and genre painting art collection by way of George W. Vanderbilt (1862-1914) which was sold by Parke-Bernet in 1945.
Cornelius married Grace Wilson Vanderbilt (1870-1953) in August of 1896 against his father's wishes resulting in the loss of his inheritance.