The Vanderbilt Portraits

Left: W.K. Vanderbilt, photograph circa 1900. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Right: Photograph of Richard Hall’s painting Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt. Source: Hall Richard Pintor [1930s-1960s], British Library

 
Richard Hall made his definitive breakthrough as a portrait painter in the spring of 1901, when he held a solo exhibition at Galerie Georges Petit. I wrote about the exhibition in the blog post Successful Exhibition in Paris. That autumn, he painted a portrait in Paris of Mr. Vanderbilt, who belonged to one of the wealthiest families in the United States. A year later, in the fall of 1902, Hall stated that he had traveled to New York to paint other members of the family.

Writing this article has been exceptionally challenging due to the abundance of conflicting information. The sources include old newspaper articles and the archive Hall Richard Pintor [1930s–1960s], published by the British Library. The archive was created when Hall, while living in Argentina, sent his portfolio to the Haynes publishing house. It contains numerous black-and-white photographs of portraits Hall painted during the 20th century. The archive does not indicate the origin of the images, but they appear to be printed reproductions. The accompanying information is partially inconsistent with the data I’ve previously collected about Hall’s works—especially the dates. I would also like to thank the curators of the following institutions for their assistance: Biltmore Estate, Preservation Society of Newport County, and Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium.

William K. Vanderbilt

The Vanderbilt family fortune was built by Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877) through shipping and railroads. He had 13 children, and the family grew large. The same first names were commonly reused within the family. There were two William K. Vanderbilts: the father, William Kissam Vanderbilt I (1849–1920), and the son, William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878–1944). The portrait painted by Richard Hall depicts William Kissam Vanderbilt I. The resemblance to a photograph taken around the same time is striking (photo above).

William K. Vanderbilt I managed the family’s railroad interests until 1903. He was devoted to breeding racehorses and also pursued art collecting, among other interests. After his divorce in 1895, Vanderbilt purchased a château in Lower Normandy, France, where he bred racehorses. I have not found detailed biographical information about his life, but it is clear that he must have spent time in France.
 

The Portrait

The French newspaper La Patrie reported on 30 October 1901: “Portrait painter Richard Hall, whose recent exhibition drew much attention, is currently working on a series of portraits, including one of Mr. Vanderbilt. Needless to say, each of them is a true work of art that is sure to find great success in America.” The article does not mention the subject’s first name. On 23 December 1906, The New York Times published an interview with Hall, in which he stated that he had painted a portrait of Mr. William K. Vanderbilt in Paris.

A black-and-white photograph of the original portrait has been preserved in the Hall Richard Pintor [1930s–1960s] archive. The photo is labeled “Paris, 1903 – Galerie Knoedlar.” The archive contains many similar images of Hall’s portraits with comparable annotations. Based on these, it can be assumed that “Paris” refers to the place where the painting was made, and “Galerie Knoedlar” to the venue where it was exhibited. In this case, the label must refer to Galerie Knoedler in New York, where Hall held solo exhibitions in 1903 and 1907.

At the time of writing this blog post, the only known portrait of William Kissam Vanderbilt I by Richard Hall is located in the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium in the United States. According to the museum's collection information, it was completed in 1911. Three copies of the portrait have been painted by F.W. Wright, and they are housed at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, The Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island, and the Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium.

A Large Commission and Protective Tariffs

In an interview published in the Finnish newspaper Uusi Suometar on 24 October 1909, Hall stated that he received a commission of 50,000 Finnish marks for the portrait of W. K. Vanderbilt. In today’s currency, that would amount to nearly €280,000. According to the artist, the fee was exceptional in its size: “other brothers paid only 20,000.” The scale of the commission reflects not only Hall’s popularity but also the wealth of his clientele, which had grown due to the prosperity brought by industrialization in Europe and the United States.

Meanwhile, in the latter half of the 19th century, a global shift toward protective tariffs had begun. Many countries adopted such policies to safeguard the development of their domestic industrial and agricultural production. The United States was among these nations and became one of the strongest proponents of protectionism. Tariffs were raised repeatedly, and by the onset of World War I in 1914, U.S. tariffs were among the highest in the world. According to Finnish art historian Sixten Ringbom, this made it more difficult for Scandinavian artists living in France to sell their works abroad. Protectionism may partly explain Hall’s extended visits to the United States and his increased travel in general.

 

Mrs. Alfred G. Vanderbilt
Source: Hall Richard Pintor [1930s–1960s], British Library 

 

To New York

In the same Uusi Suometar interview, Richard Hall stated that he traveled to the United States for the first time in the autumn of 1902. However, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on 23 April 1902 that the painter Richard Hall had departed New York the previous day aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm and was expected to arrive in Paris on the 28th or 29th of April. This suggests that Hall had already visited New York earlier that year.

In the interview, Hall recalled: “William Vanderbilt made me leave Paris... to paint, among others, both his brothers Alfred and Reginald W., along with their wives and children.” However, W. K. Vanderbilt did not have brothers by those names—Alfred and Reginald were the sons of his brother, Cornelius Vanderbilt II. 

The British Library's archive contains photographs of portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred G. Vanderbilt. The individuals depicted are Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (1877 -1915) and his wife Ellen Tuck Vanderbilt (1879 -1948). The couple were married in 1901. Harper's Bazaar, published in September 1902, reports that Hall painted the portrait of Mrs. Alfred Vanderbilt while visiting New York for a few months.

Mr. Alfred G. Vanderbilt
Source: Hall Richard Pintor [1930s-1960s], 
British Library

 

 

Litterature:

Schön, Lennart: Maailman taloushistoria. Teollinen aika. Osuuskunta Vastapaino, Tampere 2013.

Sixten Ringbom: Pohjoismainen 80-luku: Todellisuutta, ilmaa ja valoa. Julkaistu kirjassa Pohjoismainen taide 1880-luvulla, Amos Andersonin taidemuseo 1986.