Page 85 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

The Collection of James and Marilynn Alsdorf represents a notable you buy it,” Mrs. Alsdorf explained. “Find something, some period or some
achievement in the history of American connoisseurship. Steadily acquired venue that you really like and do research on it. Find something that you’re
throughout the latter half of the twentieth century by two of Chicago’s passionate about and then start collecting.”
most important civic and cultural patrons, the Collection is unparalleled in
its breadth and quality, illuminating the remarkable feats of human artistry While their collection included masterful pieces by unknown artists from
across time and geography. For the Alsdorfs, collecting represented a unique across history, the Alsdorfs were also keen to advance the work of Modern and
opportunity for exploration, adventure, and the pursuit of beauty, extending Contemporary figures, acquiring works by artists such as Mark Rothko, René
from the art-filled rooms of their Chicago residence to distant continents Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Fernand Léger, Jean Dubuffet, and others. In 1967, the
and historic lands. The couple’s philosophy of collecting, as Marilynn Alsdorf Alsdorfs joined other prominent Chicago collectors, including Edwin and
explained, was simple yet profound: “We looked for objects,” she said, “to Lindy Bergman and Robert and Beatrice Mayer, in founding the Museum of
delight our eyes and souls….” Contemporary Art Chicago, an institution to which they would provide
extensive financial and personal leadership. The Alsdorfs’ patronage of
Married in 1952, James and Marilynn Alsdorf would spend nearly four museums and cultural institutions extended across Chicago and the wider
decades together building a life centered on art, philanthropy, and family. United States: Mr. Alsdorf was a member of the International Council of the
The son of a former Dutch diplomat and exporter, James W. Alsdorf joined Museum of Modern Art, the Collectors Committee of the National Gallery of
his father’s business after studying at the Wharton School of Business at Art, and a board member of Dumbarton Oaks, among others. Mrs. Alsdorf, for
the University of Pennsylvania. It was while working for his family’s company, her part, served as president of the Arts Club of Chicago and in leadership
Alsdorf International, Ltd., that Mr. Alsdorf came upon the opportunity to positions at institutions including the Smart Museum of Art at the University
acquire the Cory Corporation, a producer of coffee brewers and equipment. of Chicago, the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, and the
Under Mr. Alsdorf’s leadership, Cory grew to become the nation’s top Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University.
manufacturer in the field, allowing him to expand the business into other
areas of production and service. After successfully selling the company to the With the passing of James Alsdorf in 1990, his wife and family sought to
Hershey Corporation in the late 1960s, he re-joined the Alsdorf family’s export continue to build upon the legacy in art and philanthropy that had defined
firm, and worked together with his wife, Marilynn, to amass an exceptional his life. From the 1950s, the Alsdorfs were especially ardent patrons of
private collection of fine art. the Art Institute of Chicago, gifting or lending hundreds of works to the
museum commencing in the earliest days of their collecting. A longtime
Raised in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood and educated at Northwestern AIC trustee, Mrs. Alsdorf served for a time as president of the museum’s
University, Marilynn Alsdorf was a woman whose intelligence and passion for Women’s Board, while Mr. Alsdorf served as AIC chairman from 1975 to
fine art left an indelible mark on the Alsdorfs’ collection and the community in 1978. The couple’s decades of generosity toward the AIC would extend past
which they lived. The couple made their first acquisition at a Chicago auction Mr. Alsdorf’s death and into the twenty-first century. In 1997, Mrs. Alsdorf
shortly after their marriage. The work was a harbinger of greater things to presented the AIC with some four hundred works of Southeast Asian art, a
come, prompting the couple to look deeper into the innumerable strands of art transformative bequest celebrated by the landmark exhibition A Collecting
historical expression found throughout history—from the societies of ancient Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and
Egypt and Greece to the early Renaissance, Islamic art, Chinese and East Marilynn Alsdorf Collection. Less than a decade later, Mrs. Aldorf made
Asian art, and Modern painting and sculpture. Through international travel, yet another monumental gift when she supported the construction of the
personal scholarship, and in conversation with leading curators, dealers, and Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan, and Islamic Art,
living artists, the Alsdorfs honed a shared, astute connoisseurship, one driven an arresting Renzo Piano-designed space bridging the museum’s Michigan
by an ineffable, almost spiritual quality found in the works they chose Avenue building and Modern Wing. At the same time, Mrs. Alsdorf funded
to acquire. a dedicated curatorial position at the AIC in Southeast Asian art, ensuring
that generations of visitors will continue to discover the wonders of the field
It was this “love of the object,” as the Alsdorfs described it, that resulted in through exhibitions and education.
an extraordinary, polymathic private collection. The couple’s residence on
Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive became home to a striking mélange of works in
which painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from around the world stood in In 2006, when Marilynn Alsdorf was presented with the Joseph R. Shapiro
art historical conversation—a curatorial achievement in its own right for which Award from the Smart Museum of Art, fellow collector John Bryan lauded her
the Alsdorfs were widely celebrated. The couple were especially pioneering as “an art patron without equal in our time in Chicago.” Together, the Alsdorfs
in their acquisition of Indian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan art, areas that had not only built a peerless private collection of fine art from around the
were largely undervalued when they first began to acquire these works in the world, but had also dedicated themselves to sharing that collection and the
1960s. The Alsdorfs’ first visit to India in 1968 was followed by numerous passion that fueled its acquisition. The James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection
trips in the region, allowing them to expand both their expertise and their now serves as the tangible representation of the wide-reaching curiosity and
collection. Each new spark of art historical interest—in Old Master drawings, connoisseurship of its namesakes—an unwavering belief in the transcendent
Buddhist sculpture, Chinese porcelain, Native American art, and beyond—set and timeless power of art.
James and Marilynn Alsdorf at the Kenilworth, Miami 1950. 詹姆斯及瑪麗蓮•阿爾斯多夫於 1950年攝於凱尼爾沃思，邁阿密。 off a flurry of erudition and acquisition. “You have to love something before
Photographer unknown, courtesy of the consignor.