Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942) was both a sculptor and an art patron during a time when women did neither. She was trained in private schools, and at the Art Students League. Whitney was active in the WWI relief efforts, and even founded a hospital for wounded soldiers outside of Paris. Seeing the hurt soldiers inspired emotion depicted in many of her sculptures. She founded in 1931 the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She was a prominent social figure and hostess, who was born into the wealthy Vanderbilt family and married into the Whitney family. Her New York City works include the Peter Stuyvesant statue, created for the 1939 New York World’s Fair and installed in Stuyvesant Square Park in 1941. 

Although Whitney was a woman, and unable to fight in the war, she did help found a hospital for wounded soldiers outside of Paris. It was here that she witnessed, firsthand, the aftereffects of war. The soldiers' expressions and stance reflects her compassion and knowledge of her experience.