AFA 18th Anniversary

past. This effort to subvert differences in forging a common identity necessarily denied alternative identities and histories. The imbalance came to a head in 1919, in the wake of the Great War, a year fraught with strikes and riots. It was not a promising year for Payne either, who, despite the honor of being appointed chairman of the U.S. Shipping Board, suffered the death of his wife, the artist Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne (Fig. 5). To these challenges Payne responded with his cultural call-to-arms. A passionate collector, Payne believed in the power of art to mediate human differences and unite estranged peoples, challenging Governor John Garland Pollard (1871–1937) (Fig. 6) to forge a public-private partnership that continues to define the operations of VMFA. Subsequent VMFA patrons have incrementally transformed the museum into an outstanding repository of internationally acclaimed works of art. Like Payne, each has brought a unique perspective and history to bear on the museum’s evolving narrative, providing a compelling reminder of the many walks of life from which philanthropy comes. The most long-standing patronage comes from the Mellon family. Paul Mellon joined VMFA’s board of trustees in 1938, initiating a seventy-five-year relationship in collaboration with his wife, Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon, and his sister Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Throughout the era, the Mellons served as institutional advocates, shaping the museum through their leadership, while contributing more than 1,800 works of art (Fig. 7) and significant bricks and mortar. Like Payne, the Mellons inspired other significant collectors to make similarly transformative gifts. In 1947, VMFA was the recipient of a five-hundred-piece collection of Russian decorative arts in memory of Lillian Thomas Pratt (1876–1947). Moving west in the wake of a railroad boom whose western terminus was in Tacoma, Washington, the Pennsylvania-born Thomas settled with her mother in the “City of Destiny.” By 1900, she was residing in a local boardinghouse and working as a stenographer at a flour mill. Thomas met and married her second husband, the Virginia-born John Lee Pratt, in 1917, the same year as the Russian Revolution and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Thereafter, Lillian Pratt tethered her passion for collecting to the romance of that lost empire, eventually creating the largest assemblage of Fabergé works outside of Russia (Fig. 8). The dramatic events of Russia’s history affected more than one patron of VMFA. Between 1881 and 1924, more than two 18th Anniversary 178 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com Fig. 4 . Gari Melchers (American, 1860–1932), Madonna of the Rappahannock, 1923. Oil on canvas. VMFA; Gift of John Barton Payne (30.1.2). Fig. 5 : George P. A. Healy (American, 1813–1894), Jennie Byrd Bryan, 1874. Oil on canvas. VMFA; Gift of John Barton Payne (19.1.25).