Page 11 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

We wish in particular to thank our museum ernment in this special opportunity to consider Securities Co., Ltd. and The Mitsui Taiyo Kobe
colleagues and all those in the various countries their Aztec treasures in a context of Bank, Ltd. in Japan, helping symbolize the
who have taken a special interest in our quest. unprecedented breadth, and by the high-level global reach of the exhibition's theme. Simi-
They are listed in greater detail farther on, but attention paid in Beijing and Taiwan, the latter larly, the Safras, with their South American and
we would like to mention especially, for the per- Parliament changing a twenty-five-year-old law Lebanese roots, brought further symbology
sonal interest they have taken in this exhibition, against lending in their enthusiasm for this with the welcome support of Republic National
His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain; Pres- exhibition. In the United States, we have been Bank of New York. The specific inter-American
ident Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister gratified by the personal interest in this under- aspect of the exhibition was underscored by
Giulio Andreotti in Italy; President Lech taking shown by President Bush; our trustee, the ancillary participation of The Rockefeller
Walesa of Poland; President Mario Scares of Secretary of State Baker; and Chief of Protocol, Foundation. Last, Banco Exterior de Espana
Portugal; and President & Mrs. Turgut Ozal of Ambassador Joseph V. Reed. Space does not (Grupo CBE), representing Europe and particu-
Turkey. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth n of permit citing the many other supporters of this larly Spain, graciously funded the gala open-
England is an especially generous lender. The exhibition in the federal government, but it is ing dinner. The exhibition is supported by an
following members of the cabinets of several impossible not to mention, with warm apprecia- indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts
governments have been instrumental in assur- tion, our appropriations chairman in the House, and Humanities.
ing that the most important works of art from Congressman Sidney R. Yates. Augmenting an exhibition program that pro-
their countries be included in our exhibition and Needless to say, an exhibition of this com- duces each year many small and highly focused
they deserve our sincerest thanks: Erhard plexity requires substantial funding. We were exhibitions, and occurring in the Gallery's fif-
Busek, Minister for Knowledge and Research in pleased that the Congress, acting on a specific tieth-anniversary year, during which a reinstal-
Austria; Zhang Deqin, Director of the State recommendation in the President's budget, saw lation of the permanent collection has been a
Bureau for Cultural Relics in the People's fit to award a supplement to our exhibitions high priority, this exhibition has only gone
Republic of China; Gianni de Michelis, Foreign funding in recognition of this special situation. from dream to reality thanks to the extraordi-
Minister, and Francesco Sisinni, Director-Gen- Nonetheless, Congress has consistently indi- nary support, generosity, and efforts of what is,
eral for Cultural Affairs in Italy; Victor Flores- cated that it expects the Gallery to raise a sub- for us, an unprecedented number of people,
Olea, President of the National Council for stantial portion of its exhibition expenses from both on the Gallery staff, and around the globe.
Culture and Arts in Mexico; Pedro Santana the private sector. In a climate of business Our heartful thanks go to them all. The dream
Lopes, Secretary of State for Culture in Por- uncertainty and reordering of corporate priori- of a globe wholly knowledgeable of and sym-
tugal; Marek Rostworowski, Minister of Cul- ties, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate pathetic to its multi-form cultural components
ture and Arts in Poland; Jordi Sole Tura, to have enlisted the generosity of a consortium may still be beyond us; however, it can only be
Minister of Culture and Jorge Semprun, former of corporations who have understood the our hope that undertakings such as this can
Minister of Culture in Spain; Chin Hsiao-yi, extraordinary nature of this undertaking. contribute their small part to that long-dreamt -
member of the Cabinet in Taipei; and Gokan Ameritech, which is based in Chicago and is of realization.
Maras, Minister of Culture and Namik Kemal the telephone company for a large section of the
Zeybeck former Minister of Culture in Turkey. central United States, was the first to come /. Carter Brown
In addition, we were particularly favored by aboard, and helped make the early development Director
interest at the highest level in the Mexican gov- of this project possible. Next came The Nomura National Gallery of Art

10 CIRCA 1492