Oil executive, art collector and philanthropist. President of Standard Oil Company of Kansas from 1932-1953 and he owned a controlling interest for much of that time. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Stanford University and Columbia University and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I as a pilot. In the 1930's he was known in the U.S. and abroad as a tournament polo player and owner of championship polo ponies but abandoned the sport in the early 1940's. As art collector and benefactor and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art he was best known. Among his donations to the museum in his name and that of his wife, were the eight Wrightsman Rooms, furnished and decorated in the style of 19th century France, and three galleries for exhibiting furnishings and art objects from the same period. Among paintings are works by El Greco, Vermeer, Rubens, Renoir and Georges de La Tour. The museum director at the time hailed the Wrightsman gift of the El Greco and de La Tour paintings by saying "They set the highest possible standards of excellence for all acquisitions, a goal to be reached for even if rarely to be obtained and our debt to the Wrightsman's is beyond measure. The Wrightsman collection was described by the New York Times in 1961 as "one of the most important private art collections in the world". He addition of a residence in Manhattan, he and his wife also had residences in Palm Beach,Florida and London.
Oil executive, art collector and philanthropist. President of Standard Oil Company of Kansas from 1932-1953 and he owned a controlling interest for much of that time. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Stanford University and Columbia University and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I as a pilot. In the 1930's he was known in the U.S. and abroad as a tournament polo player and owner of championship polo ponies but abandoned the sport in the early 1940's. As art collector and benefactor and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art he was best known. Among his donations to the museum in his name and that of his wife, were the eight Wrightsman Rooms, furnished and decorated in the style of 19th century France, and three galleries for exhibiting furnishings and art objects from the same period. Among paintings are works by El Greco, Vermeer, Rubens, Renoir and Georges de La Tour. The museum director at the time hailed the Wrightsman gift of the El Greco and de La Tour paintings by saying "They set the highest possible standards of excellence for all acquisitions, a goal to be reached for even if rarely to be obtained and our debt to the Wrightsman's is beyond measure. The Wrightsman collection was described by the New York Times in 1961 as "one of the most important private art collections in the world". He addition of a residence in Manhattan, he and his wife also had residences in Palm Beach,Florida and London.
