Page 9 - Bonhams Sept 2016 CHINESE Furniture

John and Celeste Fleming in front of the Potala Palace, 1981

John and Celeste radiated graciousness coupled with
thoughtfulness. The dinners they gave in support of the Denver Art
Museum and other organizations they championed were models
of hospitality; their guests were put at ease and good fellowship
encouraged. Their thoughtfulness was always in evidence. In 2001,
John and I flew to Denver at the behest of the Museum’s Curators’
Circle. On our return to Richmond, we had a ridiculously early
departure from the Denver Airport. Celeste and John insisted that we
should not take a taxi so early in the morning when taxis were not
always available. They arose at an equally ridiculous hour, ferried us
to the airport, and plied us with coffee and muffins so that we would
not confront airport security without sustenance. During the last
several years, when Celeste visited her sister in Tidewater, Virginia,
she never failed to call and arrange a rendezvous with us.
Now Bonhams has afforded collectors an opportunity to obtain art
and artifacts from the collection of this extraordinary couple, John
and Celeste Fleming.

---Julia Curtis

THE JOHN AND CELESTE FLEMING COLLECTION | 7