Our History

The Foundation: From A Fortunate Inheritance and Benevolent Spirit

The Lawson Valentine Foundation was created in 1989 through the generosity of Alice Doyle, the great-granddaughter of Lawson Valentine, when she inherited eleven paintings by renowned artist, Winslow Homer.

Winslow Homer and Lawson Valentine

Winslow Homer was one of the finest watercolor and oil painting artists of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. His first works caught the public’s eye with illustrations from the Civil War, and his later works were known for their compassionate and masterful portraits of everyday people in everyday settings. Homer’s brother, Charles, was one of the first chemists in the varnish industry and was employed by the Valentine Varnish Company. The company, which would later become Valspar, was owned by Lawson Valentine  an aspiring industrialist and benefactor. When Valentine purchased Houghton Farm in the Hudson Valley, he and his wife provided Winslow Homer with his own studio. Over time Lawson Valentine purchased up to 100 of Winslow Homer’s paintings, many of them painted at Houghton Farm. In addition to his business pursuits and art collecting, Lawson Valentine also supported breeding programs of animal stock, crops, and early studies of soil and meteorology. Eleven of his Homer paintings eventually passed on to Alice Doyle.

Creating the Foundation

Upon inheriting the collection, Alice Doyle suggested donating the collection to one or more museums. Her first concern was to ensure that anyone who wanted to see the paintings would be able to do so. Knowing that Alice also wanted to support non-profit organizations, her friend and financial advisor, Jay Vawter, urged her to sell the collection and use the funds to set up a foundation.

Marketing the collection turned out to be a two-year project for Jay. Ultimately, Paul Mellon agreed to purchase the collection, sponsor two exhibitions and a beautiful catalog, and donate the paintings upon his death. Thus, not only did this transaction fund the Foundation (of which Jay became a founding Trustee), but all eleven of the paintings ended up in museums as Alice had wished: eight in the National Gallery of Art, two at the Virginia Museum in Richmond, and a portrait of Lawson Valentine’s daughters at the Wadsworth in Alice’s home town of Hartford.

The Initial Board

Alice invited her children, Valentine and Allen Doyle, her niece, Lucy Miller and her niece’s husband, Mark Lindeman, to sit on the board, along with Jay Vawter and attorney William Zabel, who provided legal counsel. Bill has been involved in human rights legal protection since the 60’s, including writing the brief for the Loving case before the Supreme Court. He still brings legal advice to evolving democracies around the world and counsels many foundations. He resigned from the board in 2007.

Since its inception, the foundation has pursued Alice’s broad vision of protecting both the human environment — in particular, by working to dismantle prejudice and discrimination — and the natural environment. Like Alice’s interests, our grants have ranged widely. In recent years, our major grants have centered on the focus areas of food systems and environmental justice.

Alice’s Legacy
Read the Bio of our Founder, Alice (Allie) Pulsifer Doyle, daughter of Ethel Burke and Lawson Valentine Pulsifer.

Additional Information
Please download the file: Lawson Valentine: A Study for a Future Biography by Robert Phillips, MA