Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen
{{short description|American arts administrator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen
| image = BerniceMcIlhennyWintersteen1925.png
| alt = A young white woman in profile; her hair is dressed back to the nape; she is wearing a white peter-pan collar
| caption = Bernice McIlhenny (later Wintersteen), from the 1925 yearbook of Smith College
| other_names = Bonnie Wintersteen
| birth_name = Bernice Marilla McIlhenny
| birth_date = June 16, 1903
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| death_date = April 24, 1986
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| occupation = Arts administrator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives = Henry Plumer McIlhenny (brother)
}}
Bernice Marilla McIlhenny Wintersteen (June 16, 1903 – April 24, 1986) was an American arts patron and arts administrator. She was president of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1964 to 1968.
Early life and education
Bernice "Bonnie" McIlhenny was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of John Dexter McIlhenny and Frances Galbraith Plumer McIlhenny. Her father was an executive in the utilities industry.{{Cite journal |date=December 1925 |title=Death of John D. McIlhenny |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DpvmAAAAMAAJ&dq=Bernice+McIlhenny+Smith+College&pg=PA428 |journal=Gas Industry |volume=25 |pages=428}} Her younger brother Henry Plumer McIhenny was a noted art collector, curator, and philanthropist.Richard, Paul. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/05/21/100-million-art-bequest/72384a36-9c64-4a65-8fe7-f20e333b96de/ "$100 Million Art Bequest"] The Washington Post (May 21, 1986). She studied art with Arthur Beecher Carles,{{Cite news |date=1952-06-29 |title=Tributes to Arthur Carles |pages=80 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105765901/tributes-to-arthur-carles/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} and graduated from Smith College in 1925.{{Cite book |last=Smith College |url=http://archive.org/details/class1925smit |title=Class of 1925 |date=1925 |publisher=Smith College |others=College Archives Smith College Libraries |pages=72 |via=Internet Archive}} In 1981 she was awarded the Smith College Medal, as an outstanding alumna.{{Cite web |title=The Smith College Medal |url=https://www.smith.edu/about-smith/smith-history/smith-college-medal |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=Smith College |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=1981-05-19 |title=Alumnae Group at Smith in 100th Year |pages=11 |work=Daily Hampshire Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105743801/alumnae-group-at-smith-in-100th-year/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
File:Winslow_Homer_-_North_Road,_Bermuda.jpg, "North Road, Bermuda"; one painting donated by Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]]
Wintersteen was a member of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1937 to 1964, chair of the Board of Governors from 1959 to 1964, and president of the museum from 1964 to 1968.[http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/currents-wi88/ "Currents: A Collector Collects"] Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine (Winter 1988). In 1969, the Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen Student Center opened at the museum.{{Cite web |last=Philadelphia Museum of Art |title=Impact Africa: African art and the West: the inaugural exhibition of the Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen Student Center January 24 - June 30, 1969 |url=https://www.therai.org.uk/fagg/catalogue.php?action=showpublication&publication_id=953 |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=RAI Fagg Catalogue}} She sold much of her art collections in the 1970s,{{Cite news |date=1973-10-19 |title=Art Treasures Go Back 'Home' |pages=46 |work=The Ottawa Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105745769/art-treasures-go-back-home/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} but donated some paintings to the museum, and to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,{{Cite news |last=Sozanski |first=Edward J. |date=1986-05-27 |title=Two Museums Benefit from Wintersteen Bequests |pages=30 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69032193/1986-05-27-two-museums-benefit-from/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} including paintings, pastels, and statues from Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, O'Keeffe, Nevelson, Rothko, and Bronzino.
Wintersteen was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania in 1964.{{Cite news |date=1986-04-25 |title=Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen, a leader in cultural, artistic affairs |pages=60 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/69022781/1986-04-25-bernice-mcilhenny/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} She received the Gimbel Philadelphia Award in 1967.{{Cite news |last1=Larkin |first1=Mary |last2=McAdams |first2=Leonard J. |date=1967-01-13 |title=Mrs. Wintersteen Gets Gimbel Award for Dedication to City |pages=23 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749132/mrs-wintersteen-gets-gimbel-award-for/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} She chaired the Philadelphia Art Festival in 1967, and was president of the Friends of the Wissahickon from 1953 to 1956. She served on the advisory council of the Princeton University Museum of Art, chaired the visitors' committee of the Smith College Art Museum. She was also "the first woman elected an honorary fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians." She was a trustee of Drexel University, and served on the Bicentennial Committee of the city of Philadelphia.{{Cite news |date=1968-05-27 |title=Wilson College to Honor Noted Pianist, Art Patron |pages=13 |work=Public Opinion |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105745945/wilson-college-to-honor-noted-pianist/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} Illustrator Jessie Willcox Smith painted a portrait of Bonnie McIlhenny as a girl;{{Cite web |date=2014-12-28 |title=Jessie Willcox Smith, "Bonnie as a Young Girl" (ca. 1910) |url=https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/bonnie-young-girl |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts |language=en-US}} Andy Warhol photographed her in her seventies.{{Cite web |last=Warhol |first=Andy |date=2016-02-29 |title=Bonnie Wintersteen |url=https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/bonnie-wintersteen-0 |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=International Center of Photography |language=en}}
Personal life
Bernice McIlhenny married lawyer John S. Wintersteen in 1929.[https://www.nytimes.com/1929/12/01/archives/bernice-milhenny-has-church-bridal-married-to-john-wintersteen-in.html "Bernice M'Ilhenny Has Church Bridal"] The New York Times (December 1, 1929): . They had four sons.{{Cite news |last=Seltzer |first=Ruth |date=1983-06-17 |title=80th Birthday Bash Toasts a Great Lady of City's Art Scene |pages=29 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105748931/80th-birthday-bash-toasts-a-great-lady/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her husband died in 1952,{{Cite news |date=1952-10-31 |title=John Wintersteen Found Shot Dead |pages=44 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105766167/john-wintersteen-found-shot-dead/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1952-11-08 |title=Princeton Gets Grant |pages=28 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105766029/princeton-gets-grant/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |via=Newspapers.com}} and she died in 1986, at the age of 82, in Philadelphia. Her papers are in the archives of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.{{Cite web |title=Collection: Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen Records |url=https://pmalibrary.libraryhost.com/repositories/3/resources/152 |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=Philadelphia Museum of Art Archives}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- George Platt Lynes, [https://www.philamuseum.org/collection/object/149088 "Mrs. John Wintersteen"] (1940s), a photograph in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
- [https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/15920/lot/87/ An amethyst and aquamarine necklace] by Verdura (1969), owned by Bernice Wintersteen, sold at Bonham's in 2008
- [https://jrlexjr.podbean.com/e/four-remarkable-women-you-should-know/ "Four Remarkable Women You Should Know"], All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories (February 22, 2021), a podcast episode featuring a segment about Wintersteen
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wintersteen, Bernice McIlhenny}}
Category:People from Philadelphia
Category:American arts administrators