Page 13 - Sporer Collection of Himalayan bronzes
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Dr. Edita Sporer receiving an award for ffty years of practice, May 1984 social circles. They knew conductor Erich Leinsdorf, American
social realism painters Walt Kuhn and Thomas Hart Benton,
Dr. Edita Sporer with Thomas Hart Benton and his wife Rita and the Director of the National Museum in New Delhi, L.P.
Sihare. Together, this family encountered the world with its
Andrew and Edita made travel an integral component of their many eccentricities and vibrant cultures, becoming part of an
family. Every summer the couple and their daughter would spend international artistic community.
six weeks immersing themselves in whatever culture they chose to
surround themselves with. The Sporers sought out operas, ballets, Edita and Andrew began collecting Himalayan sculpture in the
galleries, and museums in any place they visited, making friends early 1960s. They specifcally chose to acquire Himalayan art
with creative types from around the world. The couple befriended because of its aesthetic beauty, economic attainability, and the
the Gabor family and travelled to remote places including Kenya works’ austere elegance and fne workmanship. Edita and Andrew
and India with Albert Rothschild. The Sporers thrived in such elite avidly researched Himalayan art, reading every book they could
fnd on the subject in order to become informed collectors. Their
tastes developed with their growing collection. The Sporers bought
sculptures imbued with personal meaning that would subsequently
enhance their burgeoning collection, which they mainly acquired
in New York City. Andrew would visit Albert Rudolph’s apartment
to seek out Himalayan bronzes. Rudi, as he was more commonly
known, was a spiritual teacher who owned Rudi Oriental Art
in East Village. Rudi did not display his bronzes regularly but
would bring them out of his storerooms on special occasion to
present to Andrew. A seemingly choreographed negotiation
would commence between Rudi and Andrew. Andrew loved to
negotiate and debate; it was part of his persona. Eleanor Olson,
the frst curator of Asian art at the Newark Museum, would come
to the Sporer’s dinner parties to discuss and frequently argue with
Andrew about Himalayan bronzes and culture and the ethics of
collecting. Despite their occasionally contentious conversations,
Eleanor was a close friend of the Sporers and placed many works
from their collection in her exhibition entitled Tantric Buddhist Art
at the China Institute in 1974.
The family visited Doris Wiener and J.J. Klejman’s galleries as a
Saturday ritual, becoming not only clients but also friends of the
gallery owners. Edita and Andrew’s daughter recalls celebrating
a successful purchase by eating ice cream on the terrace with her
parents. She remembers her father gazing at a single sculpture for
hours on end, admiring its intricacies and considering its position
in the larger context of Himalayan art. These treasures remained
a relevant part of the Sporer’s lives after their purchases and were
prominently displayed around their home. The Sporer’s collection is
not an assembly of artistic objects but an experience in and of itself
that refects Andrew and Edita’s lives and embodies their passions.
The Sporer Collection of Himalayan Sculpture is the result of a
relationship between a family and a place, a dialogue that strings
together history and exceptional craftsmanship.
THE SPORER COLLECTION OF HIMALAYAN SCULPTURE 11
