Jane Engelhard, 86; Art Collector Gave to White House, Museum

Jane Engelhard, 86, an art collector whose philanthropic gifts included donations to the White House and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, died Sunday of pneumonia in her Nantucket, Mass., home, family members announced.

She was born in Qingdao, China, where her father was serving as Brazil’s ambassador. She was educated later in Paris.

As the wife of industrialist Charles Engelhard, she was a New York socialite. She helped First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy restore the White House in the early 1960s, and she served on committees to preserve the White House from the Kennedy administration through the presidency of George W. Bush.

After her husband’s death in 1971, Engelhard continued to expand her art collection by obtaining several Monets as well as the original presidential proclamation of the Louisiana Purchase.

A trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1974 to 1981, she donated the Charles Engelhard Court to the Met’s American Wing in 1980.