Page 8 - March 16, 2017 Chinese Art, The Harris Collection, Christies
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Erwin Harris sketching works of art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, circa 1985.
Erwin and Therese Harris’s elegant Miami residence became enjoyed them for a short time, and then they are passed on,
a repository for a museum-quality assemblage of Chinese touched by other hands.”
art. From ceramic Tang dynasty horses to Shang bronze
ceremonial vessels and Ordos antiquities, the collection As a scholar and connoisseur, Erwin Harris made a point of
embodied Erwin Harris’s penchant for the unique and the sharing the wonders of his collection in the public sphere.
beautiful. Aiding his connoisseurship was a vast personal In 1996, he contributed nearly ffty unique works for the
research library with which to research potential acquisitions groundbreaking exhibition Traders and Raiders on China’s
and uncover new information on the works within the collec- Northern Frontier at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gal-
tion. Encompassing thousands of archaeological and art his- lery. A revealing examination of intellectual cross-pollination in
torical volumes in English, French, Russian, and Chinese, the ancient China, the exhibition demonstrated Harris’s contribu-
books were an extension of collecting. “Books are like works tion to a largely overlooked area of collecting and academic
of art,” Harris said. “You enjoy them, you’re their guardians study. Writing in the International Herald Tribune, critic Souren
for a while, you’re aware that other people have owned them, Melikian lauded the “breathtaking beauty” of the pieces on
view—a selection of “enigmas unto themselves” to which the
collector had devoted much of his life. In addition to gifting
multiple important works to institutions such as the Brooklyn
Museum and the Freer Gallery of Art, Erwin and Therese Har-
ris were active proponents of art and community. Erwin Harris
served on the International Council of Museums’ Committee
for the Conservation of Works of Art, the board of the Miami
Art Center, and as president of the Lowe Museum Friends of
Art. Together, the couple founded the National Self-Defense
Institute, a non-proft organization promoting personal safety
and the prevention of crimes against women.
Sketches of lot 821 by Erwin Harris. Erwin Harris approached fne art with the same confdence,
energy, and boldness of spirit that defned his life. Whether
in collecting, business, or philanthropy, he forever remained
a man who sought to fully engage with the world. Harris’s
extraordinary collection of Chinese art represents a lifetime’s
dedication to adventure and connoisseurship—a venerable
legacy that continues to resonate.
6 THE HARRIS COLLECTION:
IMPORTANT EARLY CHINESE ART
