James William Glanville and Nancy Hart Glanville Collection

Pillars of the Houston, Texas, art community, James William Glanville and Nancy Hart Glanville built one of the leading private collections of American Art. At a time when their peers and friends were focusing on European Impressionism, they instead sought out the highest-quality examples by the most iconic artists spanning over a century of American history. From 19th century landscape paintings by Frederic Church and Albert Bierstadt to modern works on paper by Charles Burchfield and Andrew Wyeth, the couple gravitated toward paintings embodying a love of place and attention to detail. Nancy particularly received enormous pleasure and comfort from decorating and collecting art for their beautiful homes to reflect their extensive travels and intellectual interests, while Jim employed his shrewd negotiating skills to strategically acquire the best pieces.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The couple notably formed a lasting relationship with the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Both Jim and Nancy served on the board of the Museum, and Nancy was also a member of the board for its Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. The Glanville family has generously donated several of their most important artworks to the Museum over the past twenty-plus years. For example, gifts in the 1990s included William Merritt Chase’s grand oil painting Sunlight and Shadow, Shinnecock Hills, now prominently hanging in the institution’s newly renovated American Art galleries, as well as a Charles Willson Peale landscape for Bayou Bend. Other notable gifts to the MFA include Winslow Homer’s stunning 1895 watercolor The Guide, two fantastic works on paper by Edward Hopper, and Impressionist pieces by Edward Henry Potthast and Maurice Brazil Prendergast. In addition, the family has helped fund other acquisitions by the Museum, including works by William Bradford and John William Hill.

Leaders in their Communities
James William Glanville was a successful investment banker to the petroleum, chemical and natural resource industries for decades. Born in Cooper, Texas and raised in Dallas, Jim earned a chemical engineering degree at Rice University and a Masters at the California Institute of Technology before working as a professional engineer for Humble Oil. Transitioning to a career on Wall Street, he became a partner and managing director of Lehman Brothers before joining Lazard Freres as a partner in 1978, where he expanded the firm’s business in his focus industries and the Southwest. Jim also served on the boards of such notable companies as Halliburton and Compaq Computer and industry organizations such as the National Petroleum Council.
Nancy Hart Glanville was born in Tacoma, Washington, and graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, California, before marrying Jim in 1949. The couple lived in Houston before moving to Darien, Connecticut in 1959, where they raised their four sons, John, Charles, Tom and Rob. Nancy was Chair/President of the Noroton Presbyterian Church, YMCA of Darien and Town of Darien Beautification Commission, as well as at various times serving on the boards of the Madison Council of the Library of Congress, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Mid-Fairfield Hospice, Land Trust of Darien and Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk.

A Philosophy of Philanthropy
In addition to their extensive contributions to their local communities in Darien and Houston, Jim and Nancy also generously supported their alma maters. Jim served as a visiting professor of investment banking and a Governor and Treasurer of Rice University and a Trustee and capital campaign chair for Caltech, for which he helped raise millions of dollars. Nancy was among the inaugural Life Trustees at Scripps College. In 2007, the Nancy Glanville Jewell ’49 Endowed Scholarship was established in her honor.