About Henry Plumer McIlhenny
Henry Plumer McIlhenny (October 7, 1910 – May 11, 1986) was an American connoisseur of art and antiques, world traveler, socialite, philanthropist, curator, and chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. == Early days == McIlhenny attended Harvard and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in fine arts in 1933. After graduation, McIlhenny studied art history with Paul Sachs at the Fogg Art Museum. Sachs influenced his future collecting, as did his parents, Frances Galbraith (Plumer) and John Dexter McIlhenny, who also played an active role in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. During World War II, McIlhenny served in the United States Naval Reserve, with one and a half years on the USS Bunker Hill in the Pacific theater. He was photographed in his uniform by George Platt Lynes. == Career == McIlhenny served as a curator of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1939 to 1964 and chairman of the board in 1976. His older sister Bernice McIlhenny Wintersteen was president of the museum in the 1960s. His collections of French masterpieces, 18th- and 19th-century silver, furniture, and other decorative arts were housed in both his Rittenhouse Square townhouse and at Glenveagh Castle, his country house in Ireland. Many acquisitions were made through his interior designers Denning & Fourcade of New York City and Paris.
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