Research Contacts

The Life and Times of Barney Ebsworth • Biography Research Directory
Compiled by Paul Terry Walhus • wholetechtexas@gmail.com

Privacy Note: This page is not indexed by search engines. Contact information listed is from publicly available sources (LinkedIn, organizational websites, public records). Phone numbers and emails are included only where publicly listed. For all contacts, a warm introduction through mutual connections is recommended over cold outreach.

Family

Christiane Ebsworth Ladd Family Priority

Barney's only daughter • Sole executor of his estate

Daughter of Barney and Martine (first wife). Married to Mark J. Ladd (founder of LyteShot augmented reality). Lived at 54 East Scott Street, Chicago Gold Coast (first LEED Gold home in Illinois, sold 2023 for $6.5M). Controls the Ebsworth Foundation. Made the decision to auction the collection at Christie's rather than honor the promised loans to Seattle Art Museum. Has two children: Alexandra and Maximilian. Donated the Tadao Ando chapel models and drawings to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019. THE most important interview for this biography.

📍 Chicago, IL 🏢 Ebsworth Foundation 📱 (212) 744-7768 (public record)
Best approach: Through Eric Widing at Christie's, or through the Ebsworth Foundation. The Art Institute of Chicago contact (re: chapel donation) may also provide a warm intro.

Martine de Visme (Ebsworth) Family Priority

Barney's first wife • Mother of Christiane

French. Met Barney at a USO party on New Year's Eve 1956. Married March 1958 in France. Came to St. Louis. Had Christiane. Divorced. Would be approximately 88-89 years old if still alive. Almost no public record in English. The de Visme family name appears in French genealogical records and LinkedIn (Paris area). She is the woman who gave Barney France itself — the language, the culture, the sensibility that shaped his eye.

📍 France (exact location unknown) 🔎 De Visme profiles on LinkedIn (France) 🔎 De Visme genealogy on Geneanet
Best approach: Through Christiane. As Martine's daughter, Christiane is the only reliable path. French consular services or public records may also help. If Martine is alive and willing to talk, her memories of young Barney in France would be priceless.

Pamela Larimer (Ebsworth) Family

Barney's third wife • The Seattle move

Moved with Barney from St. Louis to Seattle. From Bothell/Inglemoor, WA (Class of 1966). Currently in Bellevue, WA. After divorce, remained active in the arts community. Listed as a leader at World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Previously a director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Founder and president of Friends of Bhutan's Culture, a nonprofit working with the Royal Government of Bhutan. Was on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list alongside Barney. The woman whose 1991 departure ("I don't know if I'm in love") led Barney to the Episcopal Church through Bucky Bush.

📍 Bellevue, WA 🌐 WWF Leadership Page 🔎 ARTnews Top 200 Profile 🔎 High School Alumni Page
Best approach: Through WWF, through the Seattle art community, or through the high school alumni network. She has a public presence in conservation/arts circles.

Rebecca Layman-Amato (Ebsworth) Family

Barney's fourth wife • At his side when he died

Married Barney approximately May 2017 (two weeks after the Smithsonian interview on April 12-13, 2017). Barney described her as "very clever." Director at the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Active in Seattle arts/social scene — photographed with Barney at the 2015 Seattle Opera Ball. Has an Instagram account. Was at Barney's bedside on April 9, 2018.

📍 Seattle/Hunts Point area, WA 📷 Instagram: @ebsworth.rebecca 🎭 RelSci Profile 🎸 Director, Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Best approach: Through the Seattle Symphony, through the Seattle Opera, or through Instagram. She is active in Seattle cultural organizations.

Roger Mueller Family

Son of Muriel Ebsworth Mueller • Barney's nephew

Son of Barney's twin sister Muriel and her husband Dave Mueller. Raised in North Carolina. One of four Mueller children. Roger is the direct link to Muriel's story and the twin perspective. A Gmail draft to Roger has already been prepared.

📍 North Carolina
Best approach: Send the existing Gmail draft. Roger is family — a warm, personal approach referencing the shared Ebsworth/Mueller connection should work.

Art World

Eric Widing Art World Priority

Deputy Chairman, Christie's • Ran the Ebsworth sale

Head of American Art at Christie's for 20+ years. Oversaw "An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection" — the $323.1 million sale on November 13, 2018. Previously ran Richard York Gallery for 11 years and his own gallery, Widing & Peck Fine Art. THE person who can describe the auction night minute by minute — the bidding, the room, the atmosphere, the records falling.

📍 New York, NY 👤 LinkedIn 🏢 Christie's
Best approach: Through Christie's press office or his LinkedIn. Mention the biography project and that you are Barney's cousin. He knew Barney professionally for years.

Joan Washburn Art World

Art dealer • Barney's closest dealer friend • "Best buddy"

Founded Washburn Gallery in 1971. Barney called her his "best buddy" in the art world. "Joan's got everything. She's honest; she's fair; she's fun; she's knowledgeable." Barney said he still saw her every time he went to New York. Specializes in American Modernism — the exact field of the Ebsworth Collection. Was displaced from her gallery when the building was torn down.

📍 New York, NY 🌐 washburngallery.com 👤 Her own Smithsonian Oral History
Best approach: Through the gallery website. She knew Barney for 40+ years. Incredible source for the art collecting chapters.

Agapita "Pita" Judy Lopez Art World

O'Keeffe's personal secretary • Witness at Barney's wedding • Retired from O'Keeffe Museum

The Lopez family ran O'Keeffe's Abiquiu compound — mother was cook, brother Maggie was gardener, father had another role, Pita was secretary. Pita was one of the witnesses at Barney and Trish's wedding (the other was O'Keeffe herself). Served as executive director of the O'Keeffe Foundation 1999-2006. Retired from the O'Keeffe Museum after decades of service. She can tell the wedding story from her perspective, the Doris Bry lawsuit mediation, and what Barney was like at Abiquiu.

📍 Abiquiu / Santa Fe, NM area 🌐 O'Keeffe Museum retirement announcement 📰 Santa Fe New Mexican profile (2025)
Best approach: Through the O'Keeffe Museum. She was recently profiled in the Santa Fe New Mexican — she's active and talking. Mention the Abiquiu wedding.

Mimi Gardner Gates Art World

Director Emerita, Seattle Art Museum (1994-2009)

Led SAM during the years Barney loaned his collection there. Oversaw the 2000 exhibition at the National Gallery and SAM. Would have been involved in discussions about the promised donation of the collection. Married to William H. Gates Sr. (Bill Gates's father, deceased 2020). Now chairs the Terra Foundation for American Art — the same foundation connected to Dan Terra, whose museum opening Barney attended.

📍 Seattle, WA 👤 Wikipedia 🏢 Terra Foundation for American Art
Best approach: Through the Terra Foundation or SAM Director Emerita channels.

Smithsonian Archives of American Art Art World

Holds Barney's 2017 oral history + donated papers

Conducted the 2-day oral history interview (April 12-13, 2017) by Mija Riedel. Barney donated approximately six feet of papers to either the Smithsonian or the O'Keeffe Museum (possibly both). The transcript is available online. There may be unreleased material.

📍 Washington, D.C. 🌐 Oral History page 📧 Ask the Archives
Best approach: Contact the Reference Department at askus@si.edu. Ask about unreleased Ebsworth material and the papers he donated.

Business

Maxine Clark Business

Founder, Build-A-Bear Workshop • Barney was early investor ($4.5M for 20%)

Founded Build-A-Bear in 1997. Barney, through Windsor Inc., was one of the earliest investors. Stepped down as CEO 2013. Now runs the Clark-Fox Family Foundation in St. Louis. Board member at Washington University in St. Louis (where Barney attended). Active on LinkedIn and the speaking circuit. Can speak to Barney as a business mind and investor.

📍 St. Louis, MO 👤 LinkedIn 🏢 Clark-Fox Foundation 🏢 Build-A-Bear Founder Page
Best approach: LinkedIn message or through Clark-Fox Foundation. Mention the Wash U connection and Barney's early investment.

Wayne Smith Business

Barney's partner at Windsor, Inc. • Co-invested in Build-A-Bear

Co-invested $4.5M with Barney in Build-A-Bear through their firm Windsor, Inc. St. Louis business community figure. Low public profile.

📍 St. Louis, MO (presumed)
Best approach: Through St. Louis business directories, Maxine Clark, or Washington University alumni network.

Architecture

Jim Olson Architecture

Architect of the Hunts Point house • Olson Kundig

Designed the $20M Ebsworth residence at Hunts Point — the house built around the art collection, the house Jeff Bezos bought for $37.5M. Described it as "both about nature and about art, a backdrop for both." The house was inspired by the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen. Jim Olson can speak to Barney's architectural vision, his insistence on room-sized (not cathedral-sized) galleries, and the Frank Lloyd Wright soffits that Barney requested.

📍 Seattle, WA 🌐 olsonkundig.com
Best approach: Through the Olson Kundig website contact form. The Ebsworth residence is one of their most famous projects.

Tadao Ando (Office) Architecture

Designed the unbuilt Ebsworth Chapel

Legendary Japanese architect (Pritzker Prize 1995). Designed the Church of the Light (Osaka), Pulitzer Arts Foundation (St. Louis), and the never-built Ebsworth Chapel for Seattle. Barney sold a Warhol ($23.8M) to fund it. NIMBYism killed it. Design models and drawings are at the Art Institute of Chicago (donated by Christiane and Mark Ladd in 2019).

📍 Osaka, Japan 👤 Wikipedia 🎨 Chapel drawings at Art Institute of Chicago
Best approach: Through Ando's office in Osaka, or through the Art Institute of Chicago's architecture department.

Politics & Social

Bush Family Associates Politics

Bucky Bush's St. Louis network

William H.T. "Bucky" Bush died February 27, 2018 (6 weeks before Barney). He co-founded Bush-O'Donnell & Company in St. Louis. Was chairman of SLU, Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Muny. His children and business associates in St. Louis would have stories about the Barney-Bucky friendship, the shared July 14 birthday, and the political connections.

📍 St. Louis, MO
Best approach: Through Bush-O'Donnell & Company, or St. Louis Republican party circles. The Danforth family and other St. Louis establishment figures would also be connected.

Archives & Research Sources

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Archives

Social pages, INTRAV coverage, society photographs 1960s-2000s

Barney was a major St. Louis figure for 40 years. The Post-Dispatch would have covered INTRAV launches, society events, Royal Cruise Line, Clipper Cruise Line, the Ebsworth Park donation, and extensive social page coverage.

Seattle Times Archives

Hunts Point estate, chapel controversy, Plensa sculpture, obituary

Coverage of the $37.5M sale to Bezos, the Tadao Ando chapel NIMBY battles, the Echo sculpture donation, and arts coverage 2000-2018.

Cleveland High School (St. Louis)

Yearbooks from early 1950s

Would have Barney's track photos, senior portrait, and any clubs or activities. Muriel would also appear (8 sports!).

Christie's Auction Catalog

"An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection" (Nov 2018)

The physical catalog is a primary source document — scholarly essays, full provenance for every lot, exhibition history, and photographs of every painting. Available on AbeBooks and from Christie's.

🌐 Christie's sale results

Ebsworth Park / Frank Lloyd Wright House

120 North Ballas Road, Kirkwood, MO 63122

The park Barney funded with a $1M donation, named for his parents Alec and Bernice. Staff and docents may have stories about the Ebsworth family connection and the preservation effort.

📞 (314) 822-8359 📧 info@ebsworthpark.org 🌐 ebsworthpark.org

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

Santa Fe, NM • Holds Ebsworth papers and correspondence

Barney donated approximately 6 feet of papers. He served on the museum board. The museum holds records from the Doris Bry lawsuit mediation, correspondence with O'Keeffe, and documentation of the Abiquiu wedding.

🌐 okeeffemuseum.org

Art Institute of Chicago

Holds the Tadao Ando chapel models and drawings

Christiane and Mark Ladd donated the Ebsworth Chapel design materials in 2019. Models and perspective drawings for the never-built chapel are preserved here.

🌐 Chapel perspective drawing 🌐 Chapel model

YouTube: Frank Lloyd Wright House Tour

Video tour of Ebsworth Park

In-depth tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Ebsworth Park, detailing the history of the site and Barney's role in its preservation.

🎥 Watch on YouTube