Page 11 - 2019 September 11th Christie's New York Chiense Art Himalayan bronzes and art

Until his sudden and premature death at 64, Dick remained a Chola Nataraja, but was a generous patron of the library which
the most supportive trustee in my fields of interest and a close was a boon for all curatorial staf at the time, for the LACMA library
friend. No curator in an American museum can thrive without the desperately needed support.
support of at least one trustee and I was fortunate to have more
than one. A second was Christian Humann (d. 1981), and, as it will Another habit of Dick worth noting was his ability to scan a vast
be revealed shortly, he too played an indirect role in the formation number of newspapers and magazines and pick scores of articles,
of the Sherwood collection that is being ofered here (as did the have them Xeroxed by an assistant and mailed to at least a dozen
Heeramanecks inadvertently). or more interested persons (I was one of them). This was in the
pre-internet era, and we wondered how on earth he found the
At O’Melveny & Meyers, Dick specialized in antitrust and trade time with all his professional, civic and social commitments. As
regulation; (in the 1967-68 Johnson administration he served on the redoubtable Franklin D. Murphy–the chancellor of UCLA,
the White House Task Force on Antitrust Policy). In fact, among Chairman of Times Mirror Corporation and of LACMA board–
mostly Republican trustees at the museum he was a staunch said to the Los Angeles Times (April 9, 1993), “Dick Sherwood
Democrat and I remember his close associations with the Party. was an unusually gifted man. To me, with all of his qualities, the
Not only was he an indefatigable fundraiser for California Senator one that stood out the most was his enormous curiosity about a
John Tunney and Senator Robert Kennedy (a skill that came whole range of issues and his tremendous knowledge relating
in handy for cultural causes like the museum) but also a vocal thereto, including art, world afairs, the Orient.” Dee Sherwood
defender of Democratic interests and values. I still remember told the L.A. Times, of their joint tenure at LACMA, that, “Dick has
his spirited defense of lawyer Anita Hill during the nomination of a terrifically retentive mind—a file cabinet mind. And it has been
Justice Clarence Thomas in the op-ed pages of the Los Angeles the great pleasure of our marriage—this shared museum going
Times, which then was an infuential national newspaper. In those and collecting.”
days, the museum had neither a lawyer on staf or a development
ofice. O’Melveny & Meyer took care of all the legal afairs of the This essay should not give the impression that they collected only
museum pro-bono, and Dick was the conduit. In the matter of Indian art. They also owned works from other areas of Asia as well
funds for acquisitions and exhibitions, curators worked through as examples of contemporary art such as Jacob Epstein, Henry
the director with individual trustees directly. Dick was always Moore, Richard Diebenkorn, Robert Raushenberg and others.
available no matter how busy he was with his professional Inevitably trustees Dick and Christian Humann hit it of, and,
responsibilities. I have written elsewhere about the subject but although the latter came to Los Angeles less frequently, Dick was
here cite one instance [2]. After Nasli Heeramaneck’s unexpected a regular visitor to New York where they would socialize. Both
death in 1971, his wife, Alice called me from New York and ofered were very supportive when a third collection of Art from Ancient
their collection of Islamic Art (at the time I was also requested by Eurasia, including from Iran, was ofered to the museum by Alice
Director Donahue to acquire some Islamic art objects, for which I Heeramaneck for which the funds came from the Ahmanson
had been responsible in Boston), and, of course, I had no hesitation Foundation. Since the 1960s, Humann had formed a formidable
in reaching out to Dick. The funds required were quite substantial collection of Indian, Southeast Asian and Himalayan art and in 1977
and Alice was in a hurry. Lo and behold, although he and Dee were I organized an exhibition of a selection that traveled the country
leaving shortly for their second trip to India since their honeymoon, with the seductive title, The Sensuous Immortals [3]. A popular
he sent a telegram from London that I should get in touch with and critical success, it was the first such show to demonstrate the
Joan Palevsky and she would do the needful. Joan was the wife of interconnection as well as the distinctiveness of these regional
the well-known Max Palevsky, the founder of Xerox, but by then styles of art. Unfortunately, Humann died tragically shortly
they had divorced. The telegram said, “Joan Palevsky comes to thereafter and his vast collection was ultimately sold. The buyer
the rescue of Islamic art.” I took the telegram to Donahue and on was the charismatic and famboyant New York art dealer Robert
reading it, he smiled and remarked on Dick’s wry sense of humor. Ellsworth (1929¬–2014), who decided to sell a large portion of it at
auctions. (A shy man, Christian had used the moniker “Pan-Asian”
I did call her and she came in a few days later with a satchel, simply
for his collection). Selections from the Pan-Asian Collection were
asked Donahue and me if both of us agreed that this was the best
sold at Christie’s New York in 1982 and Sotheby’s New York in
use of the money for the museum. After our explanations she took
1990. The most striking Indian stone sculptures in the Sherwood
out a bundle of Xerox coupons and casually handed them to me
collection are from the Pan-Asian sales. These are rare sculptures,
saying, “This should cover the amount and whatever is extra you
both for their quality and provenance, especially the Kushan
can use at your discretion.” It was as easy as that. Later I learned
Mathura couple (lot 301), the relief with Matrikas (lot 305), and
from Dick that when Joan and Max divorced, she was so pleased
the expressive Bhairava head (lot 304). All were included in “The
with Dick’s counsel that she had promised him a favor and this
Sensuous Immortals” exhibition. In fact, all three sculptures were
was it. Soon she was invited to join the Board and not only did she
acquired from the Heeramanecks by Christian Humann in the
donate another substantial amount for the museum to purchase
early 70s [4].
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