Ian Woodner
Encyclopedia
Ian Woodner was an American real estate developer, artist and art collector. Mr. Woodner was born in New York City to a Polish immigrant family. He was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota
. He received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota
and a master's from Harvard University
. He received a fellowship to study abroad in Europe and the Middle East. He attended the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, where he won nine medals during his postgraduate work. He was married to Ruth Lyon Woodner of Westport, Connecticut
.
and various buildings at the 1939 World's Fair. Mr. Woodner began building houses in Wilmington, Delaware
and later concentrated on Washington, D.C.
and the New York
metropolitan region, where his company erected housing complexes in Manhattan
, Flushing, Queens
and Yonkers. In 1945 Mr. Woodner founded the Jonathan Woodner Company
, which has built residential and commercial properties in New York
, the District of Columbia and Atlanta. The company was named for Mr. Woodner's infant son, Jonathan, who later joined the business along with his sisters, Dian and Andrea. Jonathan Woodner
died in an airplane crash in Maryland
in 1988.
, Tiepolo
, Cellini, Correggio, Dürer
, Holbein, Goya and Rembrandt. His collections have had major showings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, the Royal Academy
, the Prado and other galleries. Mr. Woodner's interest in art collecting stemmed from his own work over the years in watercolors and pastels, which has been exhibited in New York, Munich and Jerusalem. Some of his work is still on display today in the lobby of the Woodner Apartments
in Washington, D.C..
His collection of drawings includes works from the 14th through the 20th century and includes extremely rare drawings by Botticelli and Cellini. "I'm an artist and I see these things as an artist, as Vasari did", he said in 1989 when the Woodner collection was shown at the Metropolitan
.
His family foundation, the Ian Woodner Family Collection
, supports exhibitions, museum education programs and university art and architecture scholarships. It has also endowed a professorship of architecture at Harvard University
and a curatorship in drawings at the Fogg Art Museum
at Harvard
.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. He received a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
and a master's from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He received a fellowship to study abroad in Europe and the Middle East. He attended the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris, where he won nine medals during his postgraduate work. He was married to Ruth Lyon Woodner of Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
.
Real estate developer
He had a role in designing the Central Park ZooCentral Park Zoo
The Central Park Zoo is a small zoo located in Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and the New York Aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society , and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .The zoo began in the 1860s as a...
and various buildings at the 1939 World's Fair. Mr. Woodner began building houses in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
and later concentrated on Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
metropolitan region, where his company erected housing complexes in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
and Yonkers. In 1945 Mr. Woodner founded the Jonathan Woodner Company
Jonathan Woodner Company
The Jonathan Woodner Company is a real estate development and management company founded in 1944 by Ian Woodner. Their holdings consist of approximately 2,500 residential rental units and interests in commercial real estate...
, which has built residential and commercial properties in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the District of Columbia and Atlanta. The company was named for Mr. Woodner's infant son, Jonathan, who later joined the business along with his sisters, Dian and Andrea. Jonathan Woodner
Jonathan Woodner
Jonathan Woodner was an American Real Estate Developer and road racing driver. He was the son of Ian Woodner and Ruth Lyon Woodner of Westport, Connecticut...
died in an airplane crash in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in 1988.
Art collector and artists
Mr. Woodner began collecting art in the early 1950s. His collection of drawings included works by RaphaelRaphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , also known as Gianbattista or Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice...
, Cellini, Correggio, Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, Holbein, Goya and Rembrandt. His collections have had major showings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, the Prado and other galleries. Mr. Woodner's interest in art collecting stemmed from his own work over the years in watercolors and pastels, which has been exhibited in New York, Munich and Jerusalem. Some of his work is still on display today in the lobby of the Woodner Apartments
Jonathan Woodner Company
The Jonathan Woodner Company is a real estate development and management company founded in 1944 by Ian Woodner. Their holdings consist of approximately 2,500 residential rental units and interests in commercial real estate...
in Washington, D.C..
His collection of drawings includes works from the 14th through the 20th century and includes extremely rare drawings by Botticelli and Cellini. "I'm an artist and I see these things as an artist, as Vasari did", he said in 1989 when the Woodner collection was shown at the Metropolitan
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
.
"A collector requires only two basic qualities", he said, "taste and boldness: The ability to see a good work and the willingness to buy it on his own judgment alone."
His family foundation, the Ian Woodner Family Collection
Ian Woodner Family Collection
The Ian Woodner Family Collection is a foundation that Ian Woodner established before his death in 1990. Woodner's two daughters, Dian and Andrea, oversee the Collection....
, supports exhibitions, museum education programs and university art and architecture scholarships. It has also endowed a professorship of architecture at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and a curatorship in drawings at the Fogg Art Museum
Fogg Art Museum
The Fogg Museum, opened to the public in 1896, is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. The Fogg joins the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum as part of the Harvard Art Museums....
at Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.