page_title: Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
section_title: Philanthropy and arts patronage
hierarchical_section_title: Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney / Personal life / Philanthropy and arts patronage
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of Henri II de Lorraine, duke of Guise
context_page_description: Cornelius Vanderbilt "Sonny" Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player and the owner of a significant stable of Thoroughbred racehorses.
context_section_description: Whitney was raised in an artistic environment. His mother, Gertrude, was an accomplished sculptor who studied in Paris under Auguste Rodin.  She was also the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.  As an adult, C. V. Whitney played a role in establishing the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, was a supporter of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and was a founder of the Whitney Gallery of Western Art in Cody, Wyoming. The "Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame" collection was provided in 1987 to the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, New York.  It is the only museum in the world dedicated to professional dance.
  Whitney donated important artworks to various museums. Notable donations include the gift of a 1634 Anthony van Dyck painting of Henri II de Lorraine, 5e Duc de Guise, which had been in the Whitney family for three generations, to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. In 1953, Whitney donated the 1872 Thomas Eakins painting, The Biglin Brothers Racing, to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
  Whitney's interest in the natural history of marine animals resulted in the 1938 founding of the world's first oceanarium. Marineland, near St. Augustine, Florida, included a small research laboratory that drew academic biologists. Eventually, Whitney provided the University of Florida with an adjacent parcel of land plus half of the construction capital required to build a full-scale academic center, the C.V. Whitney Laboratory for Experimental Marine Biology and Medicine (now called The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience). In addition, he donated Whitney Hall to the university, a building that serves as a conference center and contains dormitories and apartments.
  In 1963, his estate at Old Westbury, New York, was subdivided and offered to the New York Institute of Technology for use as part of its Long Island campus.
  In 2000, his widow helped finance the publication of Legend of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney by Jeffrey L. Rodengen.
caption: Portrait of Henri II de Lorraine by Anthony van Dyck, 1634, which Whitney donated to the National Gallery of Art
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