Shipwreck

by 1911 - 1975
John E. McKinney (1856-1922), St. Louis, MO, USA; Mae Meissner Whitaker (1883-1975), St. Louis, MO, by descent [1]

1975 - 1977
Whitaker Charitable Foundation, St. Louis, MO [2]

1977 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by the Whitaker Charitable Foundation [3]


Notes:
[1] The painting was included in a 1911 exhibition of paintings owned in St. Louis, as lent by Mr. J. E. McKinney ["An Exhibition of Paintings Owned in St. Louis." St. Louis: City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1911, no. 30]. John E. McKinney was the brother-in-law of Mae Meissner, who married Lyndon C. Whitaker, a successful advertising executive. Mae Meissner Whitaker was an avid art collector whose wealth derived from the St. Louis-based McKinney Bakery Company, co-owned by her brother George Meissner, and her brother-in-law John E. McKinney. After living in California for a time, Mae Meissner Whitaker returned to St. Louis in 1942. Upon her death in 1975, The Whitaker Foundation was formed as a memorial to her husband, and as a way of supporting the arts in St. Louis ["History," Whitaker Foundation, accessed September 23, 2008, http://www.thewhitakerfoundation.org/history.asp].

[2] The Whitaker Charitable Foundation, founded by Mae Meissner Whitaker (see note[1]), gave the Museum a number of 19th century paintings as part of its initial contribution in 1977 [SLAM document files].

[3] Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, April 14, 1977.