Henry F. Du Pont and Winterthur: A Daughter`s Portrait

the moment i picked up this book i could not put it down. Ruth writes a great insight into Winterthur and her father and mother. A must for those who have been to Winterthur but also like me those who have not. Great Pictures to give you a taste of what life was like back then. An amazing man who knew many, many years before that his family's home would be a great museum. You'll read about his strange and almost cold ways of dealing with life but his insight into decorating his home in the American style of that time period. Also his relationship with The Kennedys and the White House redesign during Kenndys years. Worth the read.

Mrs Lord's memoir is more than mere biography of her father, Henry Francis du Pont, who developed the world's premier collection of American decorative arts. She explores in depth the man who was collector, designer, AND father & family man - & this gives those who love Winterthur so much to consider beyond the collection. Much has been written about Henry Francis du Pont in the context of his collection & magnificent garden. Mrs Lord's book throws open for examination an important & otherwise hidden element of this man, because it explores his inner life from childhood to old age. In writing this book, she has enabled the Museum to change the focus of its tours from COMPLETE furniture focus - which used to be confined to charts of ball & claw feet - to examination of how furniture was used in period & how Mr du Pont arranged & used the furniture to entertain his many guests as he developed his museum. In this context, her book is ground-breaking. The book is a milestone, & as I read it I could picture Mrs Lord as a 9-year old in 1931, in her new 7th floor bedroom, watching the headlights of her parents' friends' autos play across the ceiling. She vividly portrays an experience that, privileged but personal, can relate to all of us at some level as we try to relate to parents. A wonderful book about a remarkable man.

This is a truly unusual biography. Written with insight and perception, Ruth Lord's protrayal of her father lead her to an understanding of him that she never had when he was alive. That any adult child could write of a parent with such objectivity is really remarkable. The world of wealth and privilege comes with responsibilites and obligations. H.F. du Pont met his but not without personal hardship. As as a child who was never supposed to amount to anything, H.F. left lasting accomplishments in the world of the decorative arts, dairy breeding and horticulture. A fascinating story of a remarkable man, this is a book well worth reading.

Not a story to which I would naturally gravitate, but I feel fortunate that I found this book. A wonderfully detailed account of a peculiar and interesting man and family. Free of the sordid tell-all, life-was-hell details of so much of what passes for memoir these days, but full of both love and unflinching insight.