Page 16 - Christies Alsdorf Collection Part 1 Sept 24 2020 NYC

崇聖御寶 - 詹姆斯及瑪麗蓮 ·阿爾斯多夫珍藏

“ We looked for objects to delight our eyes
and souls….”

MARILYNN ALSDORF

historical interest—in Old Master drawings, Buddhist Art Institute of Chicago, gifting or lending hundreds of
sculpture, Chinese porcelain, Native American art, and works to the museum commencing in the earliest days
beyond—set off a flurry of erudition and acquisition. of their collecting. A longtime AIC trustee, Mrs. Alsdorf
“You have to love something before you buy it,” Mrs. served for a time as president of the museum’s Women’s
Alsdorf explained. “Find something, some period or Board, while Mr. Alsdorf served as AIC chairman
some venue that you really like and do research on it. from 1975 to 1978. The couple’s decades of generosity
Find something that you’re passionate about and then toward the AIC would extend past Mr. Alsdorf’s death
start collecting.” and into the twenty-first century. In 1997, Mrs. Alsdorf
presented the AIC with some four hundred works of
While their collection included masterful pieces by Southeast Asian art, a transformative bequest celebrated
unknown artists from across history, the Alsdorfs by the landmark exhibition A Collecting Odyssey:
were also keen to advance the work of Modern and Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the
Contemporary figures, acquiring works by artists such James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection. Less than a decade
as Mark Rothko, René Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Fernand later, Mrs. Aldorf made yet another monumental gift
Léger, Jean Dubuffet, and others. In 1967, the Alsdorfs when she supported the construction of the Alsdorf
joined other prominent Chicago collectors, including Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, and
Edwin and Lindy Bergman and Robert and Beatrice Islamic Art, an arresting Renzo Piano-designed space
Mayer, in founding the Museum of Contemporary Art bridging the museum’s Michigan Avenue building and
Chicago, an institution to which they would provide Modern Wing. At the same time, Mrs. Alsdorf funded
extensive financial and personal leadership. The Alsdorfs’ a dedicated curatorial position at the AIC in Southeast
patronage of museums and cultural institutions extended Asian art, ensuring that generations of visitors will
across Chicago and the wider United States: Mr. Alsdorf continue to discover the wonders of the field through
was a member of the International Council of the exhibitions and education.
Museum of Modern Art, the Collectors Committee of
the National Gallery of Art, and a board member of
Dumbarton Oaks, among others. Mrs. Alsdorf, for her In 2006, when Marilynn Alsdorf was presented with
part, served as president of the Arts Club of Chicago the Joseph R. Shapiro Award from the Smart Museum
and in leadership positions at institutions including the of Art, fellow collector John Bryan lauded her as “an
Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, the art patron without equal in our time in Chicago.”
Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, Together, the Alsdorfs had not only built a peerless
and the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at private collection of fine art from around the world, but
Northwestern University. had also dedicated themselves to sharing that collection
and the passion that fueled its acquisition. The James and
With the passing of James Alsdorf in 1990, his wife and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection now serves as the tangible
family sought to continue to build upon the legacy in representation of the wide-reaching curiosity and
art and philanthropy that had defined his life. From the connoisseurship of its namesakes—an unwavering belief
opposite:
1950s, the Alsdorfs were especially ardent patrons of the in the transcendent and timeless power of art. Lot 808

14 PART I