View source for Catharine Lorillard Wolfe

{{Short description|American philanthropist and art collector}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Catharine Lorillard Wolfe
| image              = Alexandre Cabanel - Catharine Lorillard Wolfe.jpeg
| caption            = ''Portrait of Wolfe by [[Alexandre Cabanel|Cabanel]], 1876''
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1828|3|8}}
| birth_place        = [[Manhattan]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1887|4|4|1828|3|8}}
| death_place        = Manhattan, New York, U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Green-Wood Cemetery]], [[Brooklyn, New York]]
| parents            = [[John David Wolfe]]<br>Dorothea Lorillard
| relatives          = [[Pierre Lorillard II]] (grandfather)<br>[[Pierre Lorillard III]] (uncle)<br>[[George Bruce (industrialist)|George Bruce]] (uncle)
}}

[[File:1880 Pierre Auguste Cot - The Storm.jpg|thumb|''[[The Storm (painting)|The Storm]]'' by [[Pierre Auguste Cot]] was commissioned by Catharine Lorillard Wolfe under the guidance of her cousin John Wolfe, one of Cot's principal patrons.]]

'''Catharine Lorillard Wolfe''' (8 March 1828 – 4 April 1887) was an American [[Philanthropy|philanthropist]] and art collector.<ref>{{cite news|title=THE FINE ARTS.; THE LOAN COLLECTION. CONTINUATION OF THE SOUTH ROOM THE NOBLE PICTURES OF MISS CATHARINE L. WOLFE GEMS FROM OTHER COLLECTIONS.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1876/06/25/archives/the-fine-arts-the-loan-collection-continuation-of-the-south-room.html|accessdate=5 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=25 June 1876}}</ref> Though she gave large amounts of money to institutions such as [[Grace Church, New York|Grace Episcopal Church]] and [[Union College]], her most significant gifts were two [[bequest]]s to the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City]]. She left her large collection of popular contemporary paintings to the museum, together with $200,000.<ref name="EstateDist1887"/>

==Early life and family==
Wolfe was the daughter of [[John David Wolfe]] (1792–1872),<ref name="JDWObit1872">{{cite news|title=OBITUARY.; John David Wolfe.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1872/05/20/archives/obituary-john-david-wolfe.html|accessdate=5 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 May 1872}}</ref><ref name="JDWFuneral1872">{{cite news|title=Funeral of the Late John David Wolfe.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1872/05/22/archives/funeral-of-the-late-john-david-wolfe.html|accessdate=5 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=22 May 1872}}</ref> and Dorothea Ann Lorillard (1798–1866).<ref name="SupremeCourt1892"/>  Her father was a New York merchant and real estate developer who was the president and a founder of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] while her mother was a partial inheritor of the [[Lorillard Tobacco Company|Lorillard tobacco]] fortune.<ref name="Cyclopaedia">{{cite book|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography|date=1900|publisher=J.T. White & Company|location=New York, NY|url=https://archive.org/details/nationalcyclopa03unkngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalcyclopa03unkngoog/page/n437 411]|quote=Catharine Lorillard Wolfe bio.|accessdate=12 September 2016|language=en}}</ref> Her sister was Mary Lorillard Wolfe (1823–1847), who was married to William Bayard Hoffman (d. 1880) before her early death,<ref name="DWHnyhistory">{{cite web|title=Dorothea Wolfe Hoffman (1866-1907)|url=https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibit/dorothea-wolfe-hoffman-1866-1907|website=www.nyhistory.org|publisher=[[New-York Historical Society]]|accessdate=5 May 2017|language=en}}</ref> and her brother was David Lorillard Wolfe (1825–1829), who died young.<ref name="SupremeCourt1892">{{cite book|title=Supreme Court. General Term- First Department|date=1892|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y2n47JoWU_YC&q=Dorothea+Lorillard+Wolfe&pg=PA133|accessdate=5 May 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Her paternal grandfather was David Wolfe (1748–1836), an officer during the [[American Revolution|Revolution]] in the [[Paymaster-General of the United States Army|Paymaster's department]],<ref name="JDWObit1872"/> and her maternal grandfather was [[Pierre Lorillard II]] (1764–1843), both of New York.<ref name="Cyclopaedia"/> Her aunt, Catherine Wolfe, married [[George Bruce (industrialist)|George Bruce]] (1781–1866).

==Life==
Wolfe led a private and sheltered life after the death of her mother in 1867.<ref name="Appleton1887">{{cite book|title=Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1887. {{!}} EMBRACING POLITICAL, MILITARY, AND ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS; PUBLIC DOCUMENTS; BIOGRAPHY, STATISTICS, COMMERCE, FINANCE, LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, AND MECHANICAL INDUSTRY. {{!}} New Series, Vol. XII|date=1889|publisher=D. Appleton & Company|location=New York|page=807|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c4RRAAAAYAAJ&q=considered+Catherine+Wolfe,+the+only+child+of+the+wealthy+merchant&pg=PA807|accessdate=5 May 2017|language=en}}</ref>  After the death of her father in 1872, she inherited the family fortune which was estimated at $12,000,000 ({{Inflation|US|12000000|1872|r=-3|fmt=eq}}),<ref name="Appleton1887"/> which she used to continue their philanthropic activities.<ref name="frick">{{cite web|title=Archives Directory for the History of Collecting|url=https://research.frick.org/directoryweb/browserecord.php?-action=browse&-recid=6884|website=research.frick.org|publisher=[[Frick Collection]]|accessdate=5 May 2017|language=en}}</ref>  She supported the [[Newspaper hawker|Newsboys']] Lodging House and Industrial School (an outgrowth of [[Charles Loring Brace]]'s movement to help care for New York's homeless children); she financed archaeological missions, including one that unearthed [[Nippur]]; she was also involved with the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. She provided $10,000, half the funding for the creation of [[Bishop Whitaker's School for Girls]] in [[Reno, Nevada]], on the condition that Episcopal Bishop [[Ozi William Whitaker]] raise the other half from other sources. The school was founded in 1876 and operated until 1894.
[[File:McAuley Hall - Salve Regina University (51487902006) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Vinland Estate]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]]]]
Wolfe, who did not marry, had a home in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], known as "[[Vinland Estate|Vinland]]," designed and built in 1882 by [[Peabody & Stearns]] that featured a [[Romanesque Revival]] style exterior consisting of red sandstone with [[Aesthetic Movement]] style elements,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.peabodyandstearns.com/residences1.html |title=Peabody & Stearns {{!}} Schools<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2017-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225121008/http://www.peabodyandstearns.com/residences1.html |archive-date=2007-02-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and built on land acquired from the estate of [[William Beach Lawrence]] for $200,000.<ref name="NewportHouse1886">{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S NEWPORT HOUSE.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/12/14/archives/miss-wolfes-newport-house.html|accessdate=5 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 December 1886}}</ref>  She also had a home in [[Throggs Neck]] and in [[Madison Square]] and East [[24th Street (Manhattan)|24th Street]] in New York City.<ref name="NYTObit1887"/>

===The Wolfe Fund===
The bequest of her art collection was her most significant philanthropic endeavor.  Her collection gave the Metropolitan its first significant representation of the kinds of paintings that appealed to the general public.<ref name="METDonation1887">{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S GRAND GIFT.; HER PAINTINGS WILLED TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM. A SPLENDID COLLECTION OF ART FOR THE PUBLIC--FIT COMPANIONS TO THE VANDERBILT AND SENEY GIFTS.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/04/08/archives/miss-wolfes-grand-gift-her-paintings-willed-to-the-metropolitan.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=8 April 1887}}</ref> Star attractions in her collection included [[Ludwig Knaus]]'s ''Holy Family'' and [[Jules Breton]]'s ''[[:File:Jules Breton - Procesión del Perdón en Bretaña, 1869.jpg|Procession of Pardon in Brittany]]''.<ref name="WOLFEPICTURES1887">{{cite news|title=THE WOLFE PICTURES.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/11/07/archives/the-wolfe-pictures.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=7 November 1887}}</ref> The opening of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Wing displaying these popular paintings, coupled with the Museum's simultaneous acquisition by gift of [[Rosa Bonheur]]'s enormously popular painting ''[[:File:WLA metmuseum Rosa Bonheur The Horse Fair.jpg|The Horse Fair]]'' (1853–55), brought to the Metropolitan, for the first time, large numbers of people from beyond the elite circles that traditionally constituted its audiences. The large crowds that Wolfe's collection attracted encouraged other American museums to similarly reach out to members of America's emerging urban middle classes.

Wolfe's gift of $200,000 ({{Inflation|US|200000|1887|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) was the first permanent [[Financial endowment|endowment fund]] for buying art ever given to a major American museum.<ref name="CashGift1887">{{cite news|title=HEAPING GIFTS ON GIFTS; MISS WOLFE ADDS A FORTUNE TO HER PICTURES. HER BEQUEST TO THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM INCLUDES A GREAT FUND FOR ITS PERPETUATION.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/04/09/archives/heaping-gifts-on-gifts-miss-wolfe-adds-a-fortune-to-her-pictures.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=9 April 1887}}</ref>  It helped launch the competitive cycle of giving that transformed museums in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago, from the private pursuits of rich art lovers to professional institutions dedicated to educating large audiences and promoting modern art. Among the masterpieces of world art that the Metropolitan has since acquired using the Wolfe Fund are [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]]'s ''[[:File:Renoir - Madame Georges Charpentier et ses enfants.jpg|Madame Charpentier and her Children]]'', [[Jacques-Louis David]]'s ''[[:File:David - The Death of Socrates.jpg|Death of Socrates]]'', and [[Winslow Homer]]'s ''[[:File:Winslow Homer - Gulf Stream.jpg|The Gulf Stream]]''.

==Estate==
Wolfe died at age 59 in April 1887.<ref name="NYTObit1887">{{cite news|title=CHARITY LOSING A HELPER; THE DEATH OF MISS CATHARINE L. WOLFE. THE END OF A LINGERING ILLNESS--A LIFE WHICH WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR CONSTANT BENEFICENCE.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/04/05/archives/charity-losing-a-helper-the-death-of-miss-catharine-l-wolfe-the-end.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 April 1887}}</ref>  According to her obituary in ''[[The New York Times]]'', "Society people have always understood that she had a romance, and her father's will implies as much. But whatever the fact, it has not been discussed for many years."<ref name="NYTObit1887"/>

A simple funeral service was held for her at [[Grace Church (Manhattan)|Grace Church]] with Charles G. Landon, [[Cornelius Vanderbilt II|Cornelius Vanderbilt]], [[Benjamin Hazard Field]], Robert E. Livingston, the Rev. Dr. William Ferdinand Morgan, [[William Colford Schermerhorn]], [[John Jacob Astor III]], and J. M. Brown acting as pallbearers.<ref name="Funeral1887">{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S FUNERAL.; SIMPLE SERVICES IN MEMORY OF THE DEAD PHILANTHROPIST.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/04/08/100905552.html?pageNumber=4|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 8, 1887|language=en}}</ref>  The attendees included Mr. and Mrs. [[Pierre Lorillard IV|Pierre Lorillard]], Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Lorillard, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Lorillard, Mr. and Mrs. Kernochan, Mrs. Barhey, Col. and Mrs. Kip, Mr. and Mrs. David Wolfe Bishop (her second cousin),<ref name="Friends1887">{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S FRIENDS.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/04/06/archives/miss-wolfes-friends.html|accessdate=5 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=6 April 1887}}</ref> Mr. and Mrs. Bruce, Mr. and Bruce Brown, [[Catherine Wolfe Bruce]], Mr. and Mrs. John Wolfe, the Misses Hoffman, Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Lorillard, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Kent, Griswold Lorillard, Jacob Lorillard, ex-Judge Charles A. Peabody, and [[Albon Man|Albon P. Man]].<ref name="Funeral1887"/>

Her estate, which was worth between $8,000,000 ({{Inflation|US|8000000|1887|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) and $10,000,000 ({{Inflation|US|10000000|1887|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) consisted of land, stores, dwellings, factories, oil paintings, water colors, stocks, bonds, mortgages, money and other real and personal property.<ref name="EstateDist1887">{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S MILLIONS.; THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY WILL BE DISTRIBUTED.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/04/10/archives/miss-wolfes-millions-the-ways-in-which-they-will-be-distributed.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=10 April 1887}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S REAL ESTATE.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/01/20/archives/miss-wolfes-real-estate.html|accessdate=5 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=20 January 1888}}</ref> The executors of her estate were [[David Wolfe Bishop]] and [[David Wolfe Bruce]].<ref name="WolfeHeirs1887">{{cite news|title=MISS WOLFE'S HEIRS.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1887/04/12/archives/miss-wolfes-heirs.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=12 April 1887}}</ref><ref name="PARTITIONEstate1888">{{cite news|title=PARTITION OF THE WOLFE ESTATE.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/01/10/archives/partition-of-the-wolfe-estate.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=10 January 1888}}</ref> The principal beneficiaries, besides the Metropolitan Museum, were her extended family members.<ref name="WolfeHeirs1887"/><ref name="DIVIDINGEstate1888">{{cite news|title=DIVIDING MISS WOLFE'S ESTATE.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/01/07/archives/dividing-miss-wolfes-estate.html|accessdate=4 May 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=7 January 1888}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
*(1887). "Charity Losing a Helper." ''[[The New York Times]]''. April 5.
*(1880). "Newsboys in High Feather: Possession Taken of the New Home Provided By Mrs. Wolfe." July 23.
*(1887). "The Wolfe Collection: Public Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." ''The New York Times''. November 3.
*(1887). "The Wolfe Millions: the Ways in Which They Will Be Distributed." ''The New York Times''. April 10.
*An obituary of Wolfe appeared in ''The New York Times'' on 5 April 1887. Details of her life can be found in her entry in ''[[American National Biography]]''.

==External links==
{{commonscat|Catharine Lorillard Wolfe}}
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p15324coll10/searchterm/catharine%20lorillard%20wolfe/field/title/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort Catharine Lorrilard Wolfe art collection catalogs] from the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Catharine Lorillard}}
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1887 deaths]]
[[Category:American art collectors]]
[[Category:Lorillard family]]
[[Category:American women philanthropists]]
[[Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery]]