From a young age, George Vanderbilt inherited his father’s passion for admiring and collecting art. While George was inspired by the earlier artists his father admired, he also supported more modern, progressive artists who embraced contemporary themes and new technologies.

Let’s take a look at a few of the pieces in the Biltmore House collection that speak to George Vanderbilt’s love of ground-breaking artists and their work.

1. Ignacio Zuloaga’s “Rosita”

On display in the Louis XV Hallway

​Painter Ignacio Zuloaga drew from folklife and long-founded elements of Spanish painting—for instance, Rosita is lounging on a divan draped with a mantón de manila, an integral part of the costume worn by flamenco dancers. However, Zuloaga was also influenced by the philosophy and art of the French symbolists to explore different modes of expressing character and energy and encouraging personal interpretation. In this, the character and energy of Rosita is distinct; she is confident: a model at ease with being an object of beauty.

2. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “Young Algerian Woman” and “Young Boy with an Orange”

On display in the Breakfast Room

Renoir painted alongside fellow artists Monet and others to create a wholly new style concerned with capturing light, movement, and other optical effects. This Impressionistic approach to handling light, as well as Renoir’s unique style of composition, his use of underlying foundations and free brushwork, and his informal, intimate subject matter were all ground-breaking developments—represented in both Young Algerian Woman (above) and Young Boy with an Orange (feature image).

Fun fact: The Renoir paintings in the Biltmore House collection were likely among the first of his works in America!

3. Maxime Maufra’s “Vue du Port” (“View of the Harbor in Sunset”)

On display in the Breakfast Room

Frenchman Maxmie Maufra travelled to England as a young man and devoted time to study the Romantic landscapes of Constable and Turner. While their dramatic skies and turbulent seas were impactful, his work clearly shows the influence of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist schools in his handling of light and color.

4. Constantin Emile Meunier’s “Anvers” (“Antwerp”)

Not currently on display

Inspired by his travels and exposure to the industrial region of Belgium, Meunier made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, dock worker, and miner to an icon of modernity. While he certainly wasn’t the first to explore the theme of workers and industry, his portrayal of labor and laborers in forthright, heroic fashion was an altogether new approach.

With our new exhibition Glamour on Board: Fashion from Titanic the Movie, we are celebrating not only the 20th anniversary of the iconic film that won 11 Oscars^®, including Best Picture and Best Costume Design, but also the elegant wardrobes favored by transatlantic travelers in the early 1900s. On display in Biltmore House February 9–May 13, 2018, this exhibition is the first large-scale display of the original Titanic costumes and will showcase the exquisite detail meticulously recreated for these award-winning fashions. Just as portrayed in the movie, long days at sea fostered friendships and romances, including George Vanderbilt’s courtship of Edith Stuyvesant Dresser.

Planning the exhibition

In planning the exhibition, members of our Museum Services team wanted to ensure that guests understood the historical significance of Edwardian fashion as it pertained to Biltmore and the Vanderbilt family.

Leslie Klingner, Curator of Interpretation, conducted specific research related to the costume designers who created the glamorous gowns and dashing suits worn by the principal actors–as well as the extraordinary number of extras–in Titanic. Leslie learned that many of the costumes were original fashions from the era purchased for use in the film; others were created using original elements to make them look and feel as close as possible to authentic clothing of the era.

“While researching, I came across information indicating that the memorable striped ‘arrival suit’ worn by Kate Winslet’s character Rose as she boards Titanic for the first time was a direct reproduction from the January 1912 issue of Les Modes magazine,” said Leslie. “Knowing that Les Modes was a popular fashion magazine of the period, I wondered if we could find another institution that held that particular issue in order to reproduce the original fashion plate for comparison with the costume.”

A fabulously fashionable discovery

Leslie asked Lauren Henry, Associate Curator, for assistance with the search, and that’s when Lauren made a fabulous fashion find: Edith Vanderbilt not only read Les Modes, she kept a number of issues that are still in our archives–including the January 1912 edition!

“The magazines themselves are gorgeous,” Leslie said. “The covers are printed using a very refined technique called pochoir. This specialized process used a stencil-based method of printing that produced crisp lines and brilliant colors and was often used to illustrate fashion magazines like Les Modes,” explained Leslie. “The issues in our archives have metallic gold highlights on the covers and are in remarkable condition. Many look just as lovely as they would have when they were new!”

Titanic connections

We’ve always known that Edith Vanderbilt was considered a trendsetter when it came to fashion, but with the discovery of this treasure trove of magazines, we now know one of the ways she kept up with the latest Parisian styles on a monthly basis. In fact, she may have looked at the very dress in 1912 that would be used to express the height of haute couture more than a century later in the film Titanic. In another twist of fate, George and Edith Vanderbilt would make plans to travel aboard the ill-fated ship just a few months later, and though their personal arrangements were changed before Titanic sailed, a member of their household staff was lost in the tragedy.

Discover The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad

Opening in March 2018, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibit, located in The Biltmore Legacy in Antler Hill Village, will further showcase the lives of the Vanderbilts as well as treasures collected during their world travels.

Featured image: (L-R) April 1912 and February 1913 covers of Les Modes magazines from Biltmore’s archives

First image: Leslie Klinger displays the large striped hat that accompanies the ‘arrival suit’ worn by Kate Winslet’s character Rose in Titanic

Second image: January 1912 Les Modes photograph featuring original design which inspired the ‘arrival dress’ used in the film Titanic (magazine from Biltmore archives)

Third image: April 1911 Les Modes fashion spread featuring five original gowns from the time period in which Titanic is set (magazine from Biltmore archives)

On June 13, 1902 a very elegant newcomer arrived at Biltmore House by train from New York. You could say this special addition to the Vanderbilt Music Room was truly made for Biltmore–and you’d be right!

Music Room in Biltmore House

The new member of the family was a handsome Steinway Model D concert grand piano that George Vanderbilt ordered from Steinway Hall, the company’s world-renown New York City showroom. The piano was built at the Steinway factory in Astoria, Queens, then shipped to Biltmore and placed in the Tapestry Gallery.

Music was an important part of the entertainment at Biltmore, and the beautiful Steinway quickly became popular with family and friends. During a visit to Biltmore in March 1905, Edith’s sister Pauline Merrill wrote to a friend and described it as “a wonderful-toned concert piano which Mr. Webb plays at any hour, on request or without it!” The enthusiastic piano player was the brother of George’s brother-in-law Seward Webb, the husband of his sister Lila.

The same grand piano in the Tapestry Gallery is believed to have been played by famed American pianist Van Cliburn when he visited Biltmore in the 1960s.

Although the Music Room was not finished during George Vanderbilt’s lifetime, there is a pianoforte or square piano there, made by Joseph Newman of Baltimore around 1835.

There was even a piano in the Banquet Hall’s Organ Loft in the early 1900s, according to Biltmore House employees at the time. Mattie Alexander Duke played it and sang regularly for the Vanderbilts and their guests. But it took until 1998 to finally install a pipe organ in the loft—a restored Skinner pipe organ dating from 1916.

With the 21st year of our Biltmore Concert Series kicking off July 27, music continues to play an important role on the estate. See our stellar line-up and join us for these outstanding performances.

William Henry Vanderbilt, born in 1821, was one of three sons and eight daughters of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt. Although he was destined to follow the Commodore into the shipping and railroad business, William Henry would eventually share his passion for collecting art with his youngest son George Vanderbilt.

As a young man, William Henry studied accounting at Harvard University. After graduation, his first job as an accounting clerk was with his father’s biggest competitor. Eventually William Henry went to work with his father and the family business continued to prosper. The Commodore passed away in 1877, leaving the majority of his fortune and his business interests to his trusted son and associate William Henry Vanderbilt.

William H. Vanderbilt portrait by Jared B. Flagg, c. 1877; Breakfast Room  at Biltmore

A passionate collector of art

Due to his own business success and the assets he inherited, William Henry was able to pursue a passion for art collecting that he had developed in earlier years but had not been able to fully realize until later. Like most other wealthy gentlemen of the time who were amassing art collections, William Henry tended to purchase what was fashionable, and in the early 1880s, French paintings in the realist or academic style were most desirable.

By the time William Henry’s youngest child George Washington Vanderbilt was born in 1862, the Vanderbilt family fortunes had expanded even further. Wealth and luxury were a way of life. George Vanderbilt was growing up in a world of that his parents and even his older brothers and sisters had not experienced. The family traveled extensively throughout Europe, and by the time George was 12, he began to accompany his father on art collecting trips overseas, setting a precedent for traveling abroad at least once a year for the rest of his life.

Like father, like son

George Vanderbilt inherited his father’s passion for admiring and collecting art. As a 16-year-old, one of his travel journals recorded some of the sites he and his father visited, such as Versailles, the Louvre, and the National Gallery in London. The journal also reveals that George was a serious student of the arts and of history, spending many hours strolling through museums and libraries, visiting art studios with his father, and studying art and history in his hotel room. Among other things, he commented on his admiration of classical antiquities, medieval French architecture, and English country houses. Thus the seeds of the future–and what would eventually transpire at Biltmore–were already planted in his mind.

When George was around 19, his father built a new Italian Renaissance style mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue with living quarters in the Bachelors Wing for his youngest son. George’s rooms on the third floor included not only a bedroom and dressing areas, but also a private library to house his growing collection of books. Perhaps even more than art, book collecting had become one of George Vanderbilt’s main interests.

Going to the Opera by Seymour Guy, 1873; Second Floor Living Hall at Biltmore

George Vanderbilt’s inheritance

William Henry passed away in 1884, bringing George a sizeable inheritance from his father’s estate. In addition, George also inherited a number of pieces from his father’s art collection, including a painting by Seymour Guy commissioned by William Henry in 1873.

Entitled Going to the Opera, the work features William Henry, his wife Maria Louisa, and their eight children gathered together in the family residence at 459 Fifth Avenue where they lived when George Vanderbilt was a child. While most of the older siblings are grandly dressed to attend an evening at the opera, the younger children (including George, who is the boy seated at the table) and their parents wear more casual clothing suited to an evening at home.

A closer look at the piece reveals a member of the household staff standing in the back of the room holding coats–an interesting detail to have included in this family painting. The commission and future exhibition of Going to the Opera was a definite statement reflecting the Vanderbilt family’s rise in society. This painting remains in the Biltmore collection and is visible in the hallway outside of Mr Vanderbilt’s Bedroom as you leave Second Floor Living Hall.

Book cases for a book collector

Herter Brothers bookcases; Third Floor Living Hall at Biltmore

Not surprisingly, a set of beautiful bookcases custom built by the Herter Brothers of New York also came to George Vanderbilt from his father’s house. The Herter Brothers firm was well known for their exquisite designs and furnishings for the finest homes of the day, including the White House and Jay Gould’s mansion. Look for these bookcases in the Third Floor Living Hall at Biltmore House.

Grand glass

La Farge stained glass window displayed at Biltmore’s Winery

In 1879, William Henry Vanderbilt commissioned a series of stained glass panels for his Fifth Avenue home. Created by John La Farge, a contemporary of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the panels express allegorical scenes related to hospitality, prosperity, and other classic themes. The set of panels entitled The Fruits of Commerce shown here form a triptych that is now on display at the Winery in Antler Hill Village.

Lighting the way

Deerpark Restaurant at Biltmore

For sheer size, nothing George Vanderbilt inherited from his father compares to a pair of enormous decorative lanterns that once adorned the entrance of William Henry’s mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue. The massive lanterns once watched over crowds of curious onlookers; today they welcome guests who visit Deerpark Restaurant located on the grounds of Biltmore.

See Biltmore’s treasures for yourself
Plan your visit to Biltmore and learn more about the Vanderbilt family and the treasures collected and displayed in America’s Largest Home^®.

Featured blog image: Photograph of William Henry Vanderbilt, c. 1882