Few Londoners know Winfield House, which boasts the capital’s second largest garden (after Buckingham Palace), because it is behind tight security in Regent’s Park. Since 1946 it has been the residence of US ambassadors to the UK, accredited to the Court of St James’s.
The green room of Winfield House, London on the occasion of a visit by Donald Trump (4 June 2019). Van Gogh’s La Berceuse was earlier hung above the fireplace, but it had been replaced with Thomas Gainsborough’s William Yelverton Davenport (1785-88) (on loan from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC)
World Politics Archive (WPA) / Alamy Stock Photo
What is even less widely known is that, in the past, two ambassadors have brought their Van Gogh masterpieces with them to enhance the house’s reception rooms: John Hay Whitney (1957-61) and Walter Annenberg (1969-74). Their important Van Gogh paintings were later donated to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Walter Annenberg
The green room with La Berceuse, during the time of Walter and Leonore Annenberg (1969-74), and Van Gogh’s La Berceuse (February 1889)
Annenberg Trust, Sunnylands and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection)
Walter Annenberg (1908-2002) was a businessman and owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Along with his wife Leonore, they funded and organised a major renovation of Winfield House during his period as ambassador in London (1969-74).
In the green (or garden) room they lined the walls with some of the finest early Chinese wallpaper, which had been removed from Townley Hall, a country house north of Dublin. Dating from the 18th century, the paper epitomises the early taste for chinoiserie. Above the fireplace in the green room the Annenbergs hung La Berceuse (February 1889), one of five versions of the portrait of Augustine Roulin, the wife of Van Gogh’s friend, the postman Joseph Roulin. The Annenbergs had acquired their painting in 1967, two years before their move to London.
The green room with Van Gogh’s Olive Trees, during the time of Walter and Leonore Annenberg (1969-74), and Van Gogh’s Olive Trees (November 1889)
Annenberg Trust, Sunnylands and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection)
On another wall in the green room the Annenberg couple displayed Van Gogh’s Olive Trees (November 1889), hanging it above a piano. They had owned the landscape since 1954. On the other side of a doorway they hung Paul Gauguin’s Two Women (1901-02), painted in Polynesia. Other Annenberg works elsewhere in Winfield House included paintings by Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Both of the Annenberg Van Goghs which had hung in Winfield House were later bequeathed to the Met, along with five of their other paintings by the artist.
The family dining room with Van Gogh’s Self-portrait, during the time of John Hay Whitney (1957-61), and Van Gogh’s Self-portrait (September 1889)
Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
John Hay Whitney
A slightly earlier ambassador with his own Van Gogh was John Hay Whitney, a venture capitalist and owner of the New York Herald Tribune. He was also the chairperson of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (1941-57), resigning when he went to London.
While living in Winfield House (1957-61) Whitney hung his Van Gogh Self-portrait (September 1889) above the mantelpiece in the family dining room (one hopes a fire was never lit). He had acquired the painting a decade earlier, in 1947.
Whitney brought 55 other paintings to Winfield House, including works by Gustave Courbet, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent and Henri Matisse. In 1998 his widow Betsy bequeathed the Van Gogh and seven other paintings to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The self-portrait has been back in London twice in recent years, for Van Gogh exhibitions at Tate Britain (2019) and the National Gallery (2024-25).
John Hay Whitney (1960) and Walter Annenburg (1969)
ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo and Keystone Press / Alamy Stock Photo
Warren Stephens
The latest US ambassador in London is Warren Stephens, an investment banker who was appointed by president Donald Trump. He was the most generous donor to Trump’s 2025 inauguration, giving $4 million.
Stephens presented his credentials to King Charles on 22 May. He and his wife Harriet have a strong interest in art. Warren had been a chairperson and major funder of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in his birthplace, Little Rock.
The couple should bring their artistic sensibility to Winfield House. They own a number of Picassos (including The Artist and His Model, 1963)—but not, as far as we know, a Van Gogh.
Trump leaving Winfield House (5 June 2019)
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Martin Bailey is a leading Van Gogh specialist and special correspondent for The Art Newspaper. He has curated exhibitions at the Barbican Art Gallery, Compton Verney/National Gallery of Scotland and Tate Britain.
Martin Bailey’s recent Van Gogh books
Martin has written a number of bestselling books on Van Gogh’s years in France: The Sunflowers Are Mine: The Story of Van Gogh’s Masterpiece (Frances Lincoln 2013, UK and US), Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln 2016, UK and US), Starry Night: Van Gogh at the Asylum (White Lion Publishing 2018, UK and US) and Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers and the Artist’s Rise to Fame (Frances Lincoln 2021, UK and US). The Sunflowers are Mine (2024, UK and US) and Van Gogh’s Finale (2024, UK and US) are also now available in a more compact paperback format.
His other recent books include Living with Vincent van Gogh: The Homes & Landscapes that shaped the Artist (White Lion Publishing 2019, UK and US), which provides an overview of the artist’s life. The Illustrated Provence Letters of Van Gogh has been reissued (Batsford 2021, UK and US). My Friend Van Gogh/Emile Bernard provides the first English translation of Bernard’s writings on Van Gogh (David Zwirner Books 2023, UKand US).
To contact Martin Bailey, please email vangogh@theartnewspaper.com
Please note that he does not undertake authentications.
Explore all of Martin’s adventures with Van Gogh here
