Huguette Marcelle Clark

Huguette Marcelle Clark (June 9, 1906 – May 24, 2011) was an American painter, heiress, and philanthropist. She became well known again late in life as a recluse, living in hospitals for more than 20 years while her various mansions remained unoccupied. The youngest daughter of Montana senator and industrialist William A. Clark, she spent her early life in Paris before moving with her family to New York City, where she was educated at the Spence School.

After a short-lived marriage ended in 1930, Clark returned to her residence at 907 Fifth Avenue, a large twelfth-floor apartment that she expanded to occupying two floors. She also meticulously maintained Bellosguardo, a large familial estate in Santa Barbara, California, although she never returned to the property after the 1950s. Clark spent much of her life outside of the public sphere, devoting her time to painting, the arts, and collecting various antiquities, primarily toys and dolls.