Artwork, furniture, silver, racing memorabilia and more from the Marylou Whitney Farm in Lexington, Ky., will be auctioned off by Doyle, a New York City-based auction house, at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The auction, which draws from the collections from Marylou Whitney, her second husband Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney and her third husband John Hendrickson, marks the second auction session. The first focused on the contents of Cady Hill, the Whitney family’s Saratoga Springs home, in 2025. That auction featured 262 lots, of which 254 sold for a combined $778,365, according to totals on the Doyle website.
Highlights of the collection include horse portraits by Henry Stull; sculptures by Cornelius’ mother and Whitney Museum of American Art founder, Gertrude; over 60 lots of silver, including Gilded Age pieces with Vanderbilt provenance and wedding gifts presented to Gertrude; artwork by Henry Lawrence Faulkner, Richard Stone Reeves, Henri Hecht Maik, Eugene Edward Speicher and Thomas Birch; and sporting trophies.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was the son of businessman and thoroughbred breeder Harry Payne Whitney and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Cornelius, known has C.V. and Sonny, grew up to become a prominent financier and philanthropist and one of horse racing’s biggest fans.
In 1958, he married Marylou, who insisted Saratoga Springs become their home. The pair became heavily invested in the area and have been noted for their work reviving the Spa City, especially socialite Marylou. The Whitneys’ philanthropy extended to the racetrack, hospital, founding of Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the local YMCA, among others.