Nationality American Name Kathryn Miller | Parents Jules Bache Grandparents Semon Bache | |
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Born 1896 New York City Died October 15, 1979 (aged 82–83)
New York City People also search for Jules Bache, Kathryn Bache, Semon Bache | ||
Kathryn Bache Miller (1896 – October 15, 1979) was an American art collector and philanthropist.
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Early life
Bache was born in 1896. She was the daughter of investment banker Jules S. Bache and was known to her friends as Kitty. In 1927, she married the theatrical producer Gilbert Miller in Paris, France. On February 18, 1916, along with many other debutantes, she performed in the suffrage opera, Melinda and Her Sisters, by Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont and Miss Elsa Maxwell. It was staged in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf–Astoria.
Goya's Red Boy
In 1926, while in Paris at the art gallery of Joseph Duveen, she fell in love with the painting by Francisco Goya, Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga, commonly known as the "Red Boy". Her father then purchased it for $275,000. The painting was hung prominently in her living room. Her interior decorator, Billy Baldwin, described her attachment to it as if it were a living being. Her father bequeathed the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it was allowed to be shown periodically in Miller's apartment until she died in 1979.
Marriage
On July 16, 1927, she married Gilbert Miller, a theatrical producer, in Paris, France. Her father had been initially against the marriage, but then changed his mind. He helped the guests celebrate with a wedding breakfast at his Paris apartment, which held his vast collection of antiques and art works.
Later life
A well-dressed society figure, she became a permanent member of the Fashion Hall of Fame, class of 1965, along with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Philanthropy
She was known for having lavish New Year's Eve parties that supported charities. In particular, she supported Roosevelt Hospital with millions of dollars.
Legacy
On 17 April 1980 her estate was sold at auction by Christie's. In 1983 the Italian Baroque painting of St John the Baptist Preaching by Mattia Preti was purchased partially with funds from the Kathryn Bache Miller Fund for the Legion of Honor museum in California.
In 1988, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University was named in her honor.