| De Forest, Robert W. (Robert Weeks), 1848-1931 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| type | Dealer/Gallery Collector | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| dates | 1848-1931 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| city | New York City | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| state | NY | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| other cities | Easthampton, MA; New Haven, CT; Bonn, Germany; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| sex | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| history |
Robert Weeks de Forest, also known as “the First Citizen of New York,” was an art collector, a founder of the Grand Central Galleries, lawyer (Weeks, Forester, and de Forest), businessman, and philanthropist. He served as president of the American Federation of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Russel Sage Foundation, the Welfare Council of New York, the Prison Associates of New York, and the State Charities Aid Association, among other appointments. As a businessman, he served as general counsel for fifty years and twenty-two years for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Also, a director of the following: New York & Long Branch Railroad, New Jersey Cables, New York Trust Company, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and Provident Loan Society. He was married to Emily Johnston de Forest (1851-1942), the daughter of the railroad executive, art collector, and the first president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, John Taylor Johnston (1820–1893). Together with his wife in 1924, de Forest gave the Met its “American Wing,” along with a collection of American furniture. Unfortunately, the Great Depression diminished de Forest’s estate by the time of his death, and other promised gifts to the Met, $300,000, were not fulfilled. He served as the art committee chairman for New York’s Hudson Fulton Exhibition, which assembled Dutch paintings from Henry Hudson’s time alongside American artisans (furniture, silver, and pottery). Additionally, he lent the following works of art to the exhibition: -A Portrait of a lady, by Bartholomeus van der Helst (location unknown today) -A Portrait of Ceracchi (Italian sculptor born 1760 and came to America 1791, made busts of Washington, Hamilton, and others) De Forest was a member of the University, Century, Down Town, Grolier, City Midday, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht, City, Automobile, Piping Rock, and National Arts Club of New York; the Huguenot Society and the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C. He was also a member of the Jekyll Island Club, organized in 1886 by 100 of the wealthiest men in America and made an island off the coast of Georgia. De Forest’s mother, Julia Weeks de Forest, was the New York Stock Exchange president’s, Robert D. Weeks’ daughter. His father, Henry G. de Forest, was an attorney and member of a prominent New York Family. |
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| decades | 1870-1880 1880-1890 1890-1900 1900-1910 1910-1920 1920-1930 |
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| updated | 10/31/2024 13:33:17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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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