Page 27 - Christies March 16, 2017 The Varata Collection NYC

AN EYE FOR ART:

UNDERSTANDING THE HEART AND SOUL OF A WORK

Amy G. Poster, Curator Emerita, Asian Art, Brooklyn Museum

Marie Theresa Virata Marie Theresa Virata was a member of a prominent Manila family
whose education was interrupted by World War II. She traveled throughout her life,
within the country and abroad, and during that time, she developed a special interest in

archaeology. Together with the National Museum
of the Philippines, for example, she sponsored
archeological explorations at various sites in the
country. As a member of the Oriental Ceramic Society
of the Philippines, she became acquainted with
Ambassador Sir John Addis, a prominent collector,
and was invited to visit him at his home in Sussex in
the United Kingdom. There, she was introduced to
his extraordinary collection of Ming furniture, much
of which is now featured in the Victoria & Albert
Museum, London. As their friendship grew, he also
accompanied her to several Philippine archaeological
projects, where early Chinese ceramics, including
Tang and Song works, were discovered. These
experiences built her taste and discernment, and
gave her a feld of reference for her family’s serious
pursuit of Chinese furniture and objects.

Bebe and Leonides Virata in Honolulu, 1950s. Mrs. Virata’s husband, Leo Virata, died in 1976.

碧碧與雷奧尼德•維勒泰攝於檀香山，1950年代。 Although he himself was engaged in economics,

politics, and business rather than the arts, he encouraged his wife’s interest in archeology.

According to the couple’s son, Luis, Mr. Virata was secretly pleased by his wife’s collecting

activities, which came to encompass not only ceramics and archeological material but also

religious sculpture, Philippine furniture, and archeological gold. While the Viratas were

active socially, they were also very engaged in intellectual activities, giving funds to support

the National Museum in Manila, the preservation of local churches, and a host of other

causes. They always gave quietly and anonymously, all the while supporting up-and-coming

local artists.

Luis Virata recalls going with his mother to the Philadelphia
Antiques Fair in 1977 where, after graduating from Cambridge,
he was a student at the Wharton School at the University
of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Virata had been invited to attend this
prominent fair by Morris Dorrance, the chairman of the
Philadelphia National Bank (later known as the CoreStates
Financial Corp.) and a member of the family which owned the
Campbell Soup Company. Luis still remembers accompanying
his mother, his wife Libet, and Mr. Dorrance, on their rounds of
the fair, where they saw both Chinese furniture (a huanghuali
chair and an altar cofer of the sort that his mother had seen at
the Addis home in Sussex, for example) and some Queen Anne

Leonides Virata and President Richard Nixon, 1971.
雷奧尼德•維勒泰與尼克森總統，1971年。

THE MARIE THERESA L. V I R ATA C O L L E C T I O N OF ASIAN ART: A FAMILY LEGACY 25