Lily Auchincloss was born in 1922 in Newark, New Jersey. Her father, Arnold Louis van Ameringen was the a founder and later chairman of International Flavors and Fragrances and her mother was philanthropist Hedwig Adele van Ameringen (née Pfaltz).
She attended Radcliffe College and graduated cum laude in 1944.
While at Radcliffe, she met Philip Johnson and Marcel Breuer, who helped instill her interest in architecture and design. After graduation, she worked in New York City as a writer and editors She worked at Look, World Telegram, New York Herald Tribune, Glamour, Harper"s Bazaar and McCall"son
She was a noted philanthropist.
She supported institutions and organizations such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, and the American Academy in Rome. She became a trustee at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1971 and served on numerous committees at the museum including painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, illustrated books and architecture and design.
She financed exhibitions about Frank Lloyd Wright, Rem Koolhaus, Cy Twombly and Louis I. Kahn. MoMA named the Lily Auchincloss Center for Architecture and Design after her, in 1994.
She died of cancer in Manhattan.
The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Incorporated., is a New York City non-profit grantmaking foundation.
