Shelby White

Shelby White (born 1938) is an American investor, art collector, and philanthropist. She serves on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art[1] and is a founding trustee of the Leon Levy Foundation.[2]

Early life

White was born in 1938[3] and grew up in Brooklyn.[4] She received a bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College and a master's from Columbia University.[3] After college, White married investment banker Rodney L. White, who died in 1969.[5]

In the 1970s, White married Leon Levy, an American investor and philanthropist, and she and her husband developed an interest in antiquities and started bidding at New York auctions in 1975.[3][6]

Career

Over the next several decades, White and Levy accumulated a substantial collection of objects from different time periods and international origins.[7] Many of the pieces in their collection are on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[8]

In the early 1990s, White and Levy gave 16 artifacts to the British Museum after being threatened with a lawsuit.[1] In 2008, White returned 9 pieces that the Italian government suggested had been exported questionably.[9]

In 1995, White and her husband made a donation of $20 million for the renovation and expansion of the Met's Greek and Roman Galleries.[10] White has also served on the board of the American Schools of Oriental Research, an archeological organization with institutes in Cyprus, Jordan and Israel.[6]

White was also a financial journalist and wrote for publications including The New York Times.[11] In 1992, White published the book What Every Woman Should Know About Her Husband’s Money.[3]

In 2000, White was appointed to the Cultural Property Advisory Committee, a government organization formed in 1983 to help combat illicit international trade of antiquities.[1]

After her husband's death in 2003, White established the Leon Levy Foundation.[2] Through this organization, White has funded her philanthropic efforts including a $25 million donation to New York City parks in 2008,[12] $200 million to NYU for an ancient studies institute,[13] and $3.25 million for an addition to the Brooklyn Public Library in 2010.[14]

In 2017, White received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, a private philanthropic award established in 2001.[4]

Shelby White and Leon Levy Information Commons room at the Central Library of the Brooklyn Public Library

Stolen antiquities

The Levy-White collection has been scrutinized for looted objects: in a 2000 article, archaeologists David Gill and Christopher Chippindale stated that 93 percent of the works at the exhibition Glories of the Past: Ancient Art from the Shelby White and Leon Levy Collection had no known provenance.[15]

Upon search warrants issued by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on 28 June 2021, and April 27, 2022, objects were seized from White's Manhattan home and were returned to Turkey and Italy, these objects constituting "evidence of criminal possession of stolen property in the first, second, third, and fourth degrees, as well as of a conspiracy to commit those crimes"[16]

The Office of Manhattan District Attorney General seized 89 stolen antiquities, valued at $69 million and originating from 10 different countries, and returned some of them to Turkey[17] and Yemen.[18]

In May 2023, Chinese antiquities loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Shelby White were seized and returned to the Chinese Consulate,[19] and an alabaster bull looted from Uruk was returned to Iraq.[20]

References
  1. Honan, William H. (August 15, 2000). "Collector Joins Artifacts Panel, Stirring Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  2. Kozinn, Allan (May 20, 2014). "$5 Million Gift to Endow Director's Position at Brooklyn Museum". ArtsBeat. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  3. Mead, Rebecca (April 2, 2007). "Den of Antiquity". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  4. Murphy, Cullen (December 28, 2017). "Hall of Fame: Philanthropists Who Follow Andrew Carnegie's Example". The Hive. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  5. "RODNEY L. WHITE, INVESTMENT AIDE; Oppenheimer Partner, 39, Drowns in Canada". The New York Times. September 15, 1969. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  6. Reif, Rita (September 23, 1990). "ANTIQUES; Two Passionate Collectors Share Their Love of History". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  7. Eakin, Hugh; Kennedy, Randy (December 10, 2005). "Doubts on Donors' Collection Cloud Met Antiquities Project". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  8. Wilford, John Noble; Glater, Jonathan D. (March 21, 2006). "N.Y.U. and Columbia to Receive $200 Million Gifts for Research". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  9. Roberts, Sam (October 13, 2009). "Levy Foundation Grant Helps Philharmonic and Others Digitize Archives". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  10. "Met Museum Gets Gift for Renovation". The New York Times. September 13, 1995. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  11. Fabrikant, Geraldine; White, Shelby (April 30, 1995). "Noblesse Oblige . . . With Strings". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  12. Ryzik, Melena (May 24, 2008). "Big Plans for Parks". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  13. Pogrebin, Robin (April 1, 2006). "$200 Million Gift Prompts a Debate Over Antiquities". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  14. Rosenberg, Eli (May 9, 2013). "At Brooklyn Library's New Center, Books Are Secondary". City Room. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  15. Gill, David; Chippindale, Christopher (July 2000). "Material Consequences of Contemporary Classical Collecting". American Journal of Archaeology. 104 (3): 463–511. doi:10.2307/507226. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  16. Voon, Claire (December 2, 2022). "Looted antiquities returned to Turkey and Italy were seized from New York home of Met trustee Shelby White". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  17. "Manhattan DA Returns Stolen Antiquities to Turkey". New York Almanack. March 28, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  18. Ho, Karen K. (April 28, 2023). "Looted Artifacts Returned to Yemen Amid Investigation into Met Trustee's Collection". ARTnews. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  19. "Manhattan D.A. Bragg Returns Two 7th Century Antiquities to China from The Met". Art Dependence. May 11, 2023.
  20. Cascone, Sarah (April 28, 2023). "U.S. Authorities Repatriated Two Ancient Sculptures to Iraq—One Belonging to Met Trustee Shelby White". Artnet. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
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