Lot 1

Andrew and Edita Sporer’s collection of Himalayan bronzes acquired over a span of thirty years reflects their international lives, deep passions, and appreciation of fine craftsmanship. Both Andrew and Edita were born in pre-war Eastern Europe under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Edita in what was known as Moravia and Andrew in Hungary. Both Andrew and Edita were immensely accomplished individuals. Andrew spoke five languages and received his M.D. from universities in both Hungary and France. He became a notable urologist and surgeon, lecturing across the United States and instructing at renowned institutions including the University of Bologna in Italy and Medico Kabul in Afghanistan. His wife Edita’s achievements were no less profound. She studied at universities in both Prague and Bratislava to become an anesthesiologist and was one of the first foreign women ever to be admitted to Harvard University’s Mass General Hospital for postgraduate training. In 1947, Edita became a Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology. In her fifty years of medical practice, she never once lost a patient. Although both born in Eastern Europe, Edita and Andrew met while conducting a surgery in an operating room in New York City. They both pursued medicine as a career but ultimately devoted themselves to a life of art, travel, and cultural exploration. The roots of Edita and Andrew’s appreciation of Himalayan sculpture formed through their individual experiences previous to their life together in the United States. Before medical school, Edita dreamed of becoming an artist. Her father worked as a restorer who specialized in antiques and museum-quality decorative arts and furniture. He convinced Edita to attend medical school back in Czechoslovakia, but her ardor for artistry and beauty continued to be a defining factor in her life, whether through her art collection or hand-sewn evening gowns created from fabric she purchased in India. Edita created art throughout her life and was quite talented in a variety of media including ink and watercolor. As a young man, Andrew traveled around the world. He spent his summers at university in France as a doctor on boats sailing to Northern Africa. The connections he made on these boat trips brought him to Siam. Andrew remained in Asia for a time, eventually becoming the Director of Surgery for the International Red Cross where he was stationed in Southern China for three years. Andrew would fly over the Himalayas to explore regions of India throughout this period of his life. These journeys, along with stories of Tibet he heard while living in China, instilled within him a fascination of the mountainous land between China and India. Edita too fell in love with India and visited Nepal on her first trip of many to the subcontinent. The Sporers were among the first foreigners to visit Bhutan, which they reached by travelling on horseback.Andrew and Edita made travel an integral component of their family. Every summer the couple and their daughter would spend six weeks immersing themselves in whatever culture they chose to surround themselves with. The Sporers sought out operas, ballets, galleries, and museums in any place they visited, making friends with creative types from around the world. The couple befriended the Gabor family and travelled to remote places including Kenya and India with Albert Rothschild. The Sporers thrived in such elite social circles. They knew conductor Erich Leinsdorf, American social realism painters Walt Kuhn and Thomas Hart Benton, and the Director of the National Museum in New Delhi, L.P. Sihare. Together, this family encountered the world with its many eccentricities and vibrant cultures, becoming part of an international artistic community. Edita and Andrew began collecting Himalayan sculpture in the early 1960s. They specifically chose to acquire Himalayan art because of its aesthetic beauty, economic attainability, and the works’ austere elegance and fine workmanship. Edita and Andrew avidly researched Himalayan art, reading every book they could find on the subject in order to become informed collectors. Their tastes developed with their growing collection. The Sporers bought sculptures imbued with personal meaning that would subsequently enhance their burgeoning collection, which they mainly acquired in New York City. Andrew would visit Albert Rudolph’s apartment to seek out Himalayan bronzes. Rudi, as he was more commonly known, was a spiritual teacher who owned Rudi Oriental Art in East Village. Rudi did not display his bronzes regularly but would bring them out of his storerooms on special occasion to present to Andrew. A seemingly choreographed negotiation would commence between Rudi and Andrew. Andrew loved to negotiate and debate; it was part of his persona. Eleanor Olson, the first curator of Asian art at the Newark Museum, would come to the Sporer’s dinner parties to discuss and frequently argue with Andrew about Himalayan bronzes and culture and the ethics of collecting. Despite their occasionally contentious conversations, Eleanor was a close friend of the Sporers and placed many works from their collection in her exhibition entitled Tantric Buddhist Art at the China Institute in 1974.The family visited Doris Wiener and J.J. Klejman’s galleries as a Saturday ritual, becoming not only clients but also friends of the gallery owners. Edita and Andrew’s daughter recalls celebrating a successful purchase by eating ice cream on the terrace with her parents. She remembers her father gazing at a single sculpture for hours on end, admiring its intricacies and considering its position in the larger context of Himalayan art. These treasures remained a relevant part of the Sporer’s lives after their purchases and were prominently displayed around their home. The Sporer’s collection is not an assembly of artistic objects but an experience in and of itself that reflects Andrew and Edita’s lives and embodies their passions. The Sporer Collection of Himalayan Sculpture is the result of a relationship between a family and a place, a dialogue that strings together history and exceptional craftsmanship.

A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF GARUDA

NEPAL, 13TH/14TH CENTURY

Details

A GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF GARUDA
NEPAL, 13TH/14TH CENTURY
Standing in a slight tribhanga with his hands placed delicately at his chest in anjalimudra, backed by his folded wings, adorned with serpentine jewelry and sacred thread, his benevolent expression surmounted by an elaborate chignon fastened with a jeweled tiara
4 7/8 in. (12.5 cm.) high

Provenance

The Sporer Collection, New Jersey, acquired from Christie, Manson & Woods, New York, 21 November 1979, lot 361

Literature

Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24016

Lot Essay

The Garuda is a half-bird, half-human creature, that appears in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism, Garuda is the mount of the god Vishnu. Vishnu was the main deity of the north Indian Gupta rulers, and Garuda was their dynastic symbol. This royal association was adopted by Licchavi royalty in Nepal, becoming a quintessential icon in Nepalese religious imagery.

Garuda is most commonly depicted kneeling on one knee or in flight with Vishnu on his back: see an 11th century gilt copper repoussé example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2012.463). Standing images of Garuda are rarer, particularly in Nepal. As a result, examples such as a 9th/10th century stone Garuda in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1983.555.1), are highly revered. The exquisitely sensitive modeling which evokes a tangible sweetness makes the present work an even greater rarity.

More from The Sporer Collection of Himalayan Sculpture

View All