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Biography -
Collector -
Legacy
Marjorie Merriweather Post (1887-1973), heir to the Post cereal fortune,
was the founder of Hillwood Museum and Gardens -
her former twenty-five acre estate in Washington, DC
Endowed
with a progressive sense of business, entrepreneurial optimism,
and a confident, gracious sense of self, Mrs. Post created a place
for herself in American history. Known as one of America’s
first businesswomen, she was an art collector, noted philanthropist,
and socialite. Her greatest legacy, however, was her gift of Hillwood.
In opening her home to the public, she joined a small number of
distinguished Americans who created art collectors’ personal
museums out of their homes, galleries, and estates.
Born in Springfield, Illinois, Marjorie was the only child of Ella
Merriweather and Charles William (C.W.) Post, a man who epitomized
the American dream. With his inventions of the coffee substitute
Postum and Grape-Nuts and Post Toasties cereals, C.W. founded
the Postum Cereal Company, a food-manufacturing empire that
generated one of the largest fortunes of the early twentieth
century. C.W. trained his daughter in every aspect of the company’s
workings, from overseeing factory production to attending board
meetings. C.W. also exposed his daughter to art through trips
abroad and his own collecting of Victoriana. His death in 1914
left the twenty-seven-year-old heiress the owner of a rapidly
growing cereal company. Her increasing responsibilities placed
new demands on her and soon drew her into a fast-paced life
in Manhattan.
The genesis
of Mrs. Post's career as a collector harks back to the early part
of the 20th-century and coincides with her move to New York. This
move brought her into the same social sphere as the Fricks, Vanderbilts,
and Whitneys - for whom collecting was
considered a worthwhile, if not necessary, pursuit of the wealthy.
Marjorie bought decorative art objects for her New York home and,
through experience and education, gradually developed a discerning
eye, especially for French furnishings. While balancing the needs
of her company and her family, Marjorie embarked on a course of
self-education in the decorative arts. She enrolled in classes
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and sought the tutelage of the
renowned art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen. Her lifelong passion for
refined decorative objects was awakened during these early years
as she stated in one of her letters:
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"So far as young collectors are concerned, from my
own experience, it [collecting] can be a most rewarding and exciting affair, but first of
all a particular interest in an article or period must be established to instigate the
desire to collect. Once the 'desire' is there and the seeds of the thrill of the
search are sown the collector is on his way."
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Her second marriage was to Wall Street financier
Edward F. Hutton in 1920. A perfect match, they were both handsome,
wealthy, and adventurous. Her exceptional vision for the Postum
Cereal Company, coupled with Hutton’s business acumen, led
to the formation of the General Foods Corporation, a leader in
prepared and frozen foods. Marjorie’s personal tastes also
broadened as she turned greater attention to decorating her vast
properties. Throughout the 1920s she acquired fine furnishings
for her grand apartment in New York; her estate Mar-A-Lago in
Palm Beach, Florida; Camp Hutridge (later Topridge) in the Adirondacks;
and her yacht Sea Cloud.
She also turned her attention to acquiring fine Sèvres porcelain
and 18th-century French gold boxes.
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"I am particularly attracted by the beauty of an object, its craftsmanship, history ..."
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In response to the economic hardship that devastated
the nation in the 1930s, Marjorie increased her charitable involvement.
She supported numerous philanthropic causes throughout her life,
including the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, and in later
years, the National Symphony Orchestra.
Marjorie accompanied
her third husband, Joseph E. Davies, to the Soviet Union, where
he served as the American ambassador (1937-1938). On the eve
of World War II, Marjorie witnessed Stalin’s reign of terror
firsthand. It was also in the Soviet Union where Marjorie's
eye turned to Russian decorative and liturgical arts, as she
mentions in the introduction to a book about Fabergé:
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"While in Russia, with the opportunity to see and
enjoy the Russian love of color in all forms of art, I became interested in enamels. These
I would never, perhaps, have learned to appreciate fully anywhere else. The Russian genius
in the use of stimulating color is a spiritual quality related to the land itself."
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One consequence of this widespread turmoil
and extreme social and cultural upheaval was the selling of imperial
art treasures, which was endorsed by the Soviet government. Marjorie
acquired Russian icons, textiles, porcelains, and silver, and
she was soon transformed into an
avowed collector of Russian art. The purchases she made while living
in the Soviet Union formed the nucleus of the most important assemblage
of Russian imperial art outside Russia today.
Like many American collectors, Mrs. Post
continued collecting throughout her life and wanted to share
her collection with the public. In 1955 she bought the Hillwood
estate to serve both as her residence and as a future museum.
By 1958 she had hired Marvin Ross, a Harvard trained art historian,
to catalogue her collections, advise her on acquisitions, and
implement standard museum practices at Hillwood.
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"When I began I did it [collecting] for the joy of
it, and it was only as the collections grew and such great interest was evidenced by
others, that I came to the realization that the collection should belong to the
country."
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On her death in 1973, Mrs. Post’s final
and most important philanthropic gesture became reality when Hillwood,
her last estate in Washington, DC, was bequeathed to the public
as a museum. Her magnificent French and Russian collections remain
on view at Hillwood Museum and Gardens, where her legacy of opulent
beauty and gracious elegance continues to thrive.
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