Page 4 - Avery Brundage Ancient Bronzes and Collecting Biography

track and field events, as he believed that “they are a demonstration of individual skill
and supremacy. The track athlete stands or falls on his own merits.” 4
In 1905 Brundage entered the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study
civil engineering. He graduated in 1909, the same year he won the discus championship
in the Big Ten conference. He was an all-around athlete (fig. 8.3), competing in the 1912
Summer Olympics in Stockholm in the pentathlon and decathlon events, finishing sixth
and sixteenth, respectively. He also won the U.S. national all-around title in 1914, 1916,
and 1918. Tenacity was his key to success. USC sprinter Charlie Paddock (1900–1943),
“the world’s fastest human,” once said, “I remember very distinctly that Avery was not so
much a born athlete as a great fighter.” 5
Brundage became president of the Amateur Athletic Union in 1928, president of the
United States Olympic Committee in 1929, and vice president of the International Ama-
teur Athletic Federation in 1930. In 1945 he became vice president of the International
Olympic Committee, and at the 47th IOC Session in Helsinki in 1952 he was elected
president, a position he held for twenty years until he retired from the post in 1972.
In business, Brundage founded his construction company, the Avery Brundage Com-
pany, in 1915. It was active in and around Chicago until 1947, building factories, hotels,
and apartment buildings. Brundage’s business was so successful that his net worth was
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already listed as in excess of $1 million in 1927. The Depression wiped out his fortune al-
most entirely, but he managed to build it back up through real estate and other business.
In short, he was a self-made man known for his determination and confidence.
As early as 1937, Brundage had retired from the nitty-gritty of business, placing his
figure 8.3. Brundage the track and field assets in the hands of trusted associates so that he could focus his energy on the Olym-
athlete. Cover of World Magazine, October 1, pics. He had remarkable accomplishments during his long involvement in the Olym-
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1916.
pics movement, but he was also very controversial for some of the decisions he made
as a member of the United States Olympic Committee and as president of the Inter-
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national Olympic Committee. Again and again, his resolve in taking risks and making
decisions, right or wrong, was expressed in his administration of international sports.
Let us turn now to Brundage the collector, and the bronze rhinoceros-shaped vessel
he collected. The vessel in question portrays a rhinoceros in the flesh. Despite a slight
exaggeration in the rotundity of the belly and muzzle, and a shade of stylization in the
treatment of the eyes, this is ultimately a rather realistic animal, certainly by the stan-
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dards of its time. The size of the vessel is small, but the beast is lively and powerful,
with all the features portrayed with a straightforward, natural charm. The rhinoceros’s
drooping body is heavy and plump, imparting a very tactile appeal; the legs are stout
and splayed, conveying vividly the great weight they carry; the skull appears like a pow-
erful locomotive with two horns. The bronze caster paid close attention to depicting the
teeth and the puckered hide, odd-numbered toes, and stubby tail (figs. 8.1b, d, f). The
extended ears indicate that the rhinoceros is in a state of high alert (fig. 8.1d). The fact
that it has two horns suggests that it is a Sumatran rhinoceros from mainland Southeast
Asia (fig. 8.1m). One detail the caster omitted, however, is the genitals of the beast; we
do not know its sex (fig. 8.1c). Inside the rhinoceros is a rounded cavity, which makes it

204 Jay Xu