A Passion for Antiquities: Ancient Art from the Collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman

370 Pages·39.204 MB·English

by  Harris J. (Ed.)

A Passion for Antiquities

A Passion
for Antiquities
Ancient Art
from the Collection of
Barbara and Lawrence
Fleischman
The J. Paul Getty Museum
in association with
The Cleveland Museum of Art(cid:10)(cid:13)
© 1994 The J. Paul Getty Museum
17985 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, California 90265-5799
Published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by
The J. Paul Getty Museum and cosponsored by The Cleveland
Museum of Art; the exhibition will be on view in Malibu
from October 13,1994 to January 15,1995 and in Cleveland
from February 15 to April 23,1995.
At the J. Paul Getty Museum:
Christopher Hudson, Publisher
John Harris, Editor
Project staff:
Marion True and Kenneth Harnma, Editors
Cynthia Newman Bohn, Manuscript Editor
Katy Homans, Designer
Elizabeth Burke Kahn, Production Coordinator
Bruce White and Jerry Thompson, Photography
Allan Jokisaari, Map Designer
Typesetting by G&S Typesetters, Inc., Austin, Texas
Printed by Nissha Printing Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan
Cover:
Antefix in the Form of a Maenad and Silenos Dancing.
Catalogue number 92. Photo: Ellen Rosenbery
Title page:
The Fleischmans' living room, January 1994
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A Passion for antiquities : ancient art from the collection of
Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman.
p. cm.
"Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the J. Paul
Getty Museum, October 13,1994-January 15,1995 and at the Cleveland
Museum of Art, February 15-April 9,1995"—T.p. verso
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-89236-223-5
i. Art, Classical—Exhibitions. 2. Fleischman, Lawrence Arthur,
1925- —Art collections—Exhibitions. 3. Fleischman, Barbara—Art
collections—Exhibitions. 4. Art—Private collections—New York
(N.Y.)—Exhibitions. 5. Art—New York (N.Y.)—Exhibitions.
I. J. Paul Getty Museum. II. Cleveland Museum of Art.
N5603.M36G486 1994
709'.38'07479493—dc20 94-2552
CIP
Contents vii Foreword
John Walsh and Robert Bergman
ix Preface
Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman
i Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman: Guardians of the Past
Marion True and Arielle Kozloff
9 Chronological Overview of the Fleischman Collection
Karol Wight
15 The Beauty of the Ugly:
Reflections of Comedy in the Fleischman Collection
Oliver Taplin
28 Reference Map
31 Abbreviations
33 Note to the Reader
34 Catalogue of the Exhibition
35 Greece in the Bronze Age
45 Greece from the Geometric Period to the Late Classical
115 The Western Greek Colonies in South Italy and Sicily
153 Etruria
199 The Hellenistic World after the Death of Alexander
249 Rome and the Provinces from the Republic to the
Late Antique
353 Checklist of Objects in the Fleischman Collection
Not Included in the Exhibition
357 Glossary of Frequently Cited Terms

Foreword As the great American museums attest, this country has a well-
established tradition of knowledgeable private collecting. What we see
in the galleries is largely a mosaic of once private collections. These
donations, rather than well-publicized individual purchases, form the
basis of our museums. The feats of individual collectors provoke our
curiosity about what originally inspired them to start collecting, about
the taste that guided them, and about the passion that drove them,
often at great personal sacrifice. Private collections are shaped by many
factors: opportunity, personal interest, influential advisors, and con­
temporary tastes. Unlike museum collections that generally try to
provide the public with as complete and representative a view of an
artistic period or medium as possible, the private collection knows no
such restrictions. The only considerations for the collectors are, Do I
like it? Can I afford it? Can I live with it?
Private collections permit us to enter for a moment into the minds
of the collectors and to feel vicariously the joy of discovery and imag­
ine the satisfaction of choosing the piece or pieces that gives us the
greatest pleasure. Unlike the museum experience, which often seems
to impose a standard of historical significance and chronology upon
the visitor, a private collection invites us to enjoy the object and make
our own judgments.
The more than three hundred ancient Greek, Etruscan, and Ro­
man objects patiently and lovingly gathered by Barbara and Lawrence
Fleischman over the past forty years represent the most refined kind of
private collecting. The collection reflects the passionate interests and
tastes of the two people who formed it. Because they were chosen for
display in a private apartment, not a grand museum gallery, the ob­
jects are generally small and invite intimate study. Examining a large
number of finely wrought objects in a temporary exhibition can be
taxing, so for the purposes of this exhibition, we have chosen to show
only two-thirds of the entire collection.
We are moved by the objects of daily life: a mirror that a South
Italian beauty once used to arrange her hair, a glass perfume bottle
that adorned a Roman matrons table, a humorous terracotta lamp
that gave light to some ancient insomniac. We are impressed by the
power that still radiates from the bronze and marble images of pagan
gods, the confident serenity of Tyche, the majesty of Zeus, the seduc­
tive smile of Dionysos. And we are amused, as ancient theater comes
alive again on the great South Italian vases and in the comic masks and
figures of actors in clay and bronze.
The opportunity to exhibit this collection has a particular appeal
for both the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Like the Getty Museum's collection of antiquities, it is limited to the
VII
arts of Greece, Etruria, and Rome, and like the collections of both mu-
seums, the guiding factor in the selection of these pieces has been their
exceptional artistic quality, not their archaeological interest.
It is a rare privilege for us to present this exhibition. The generos-
ity that made it possible is characteristic of the Fleischmans, who for
many years have welcomed scholars and connoisseurs from all over
the world into their home. It was not difficult to persuade them that
the time had come to share their extraordinary achievement with a
larger public audience and to live for a year deprived of their house-
hold gods.
In addition to the Fleischmans, we would like to thank Ariel Herr-
mann, curator of the Fleischman collection for the past four years,
who undertook the original research on most of the objects in the col-
lection and provided many of the catalogue entries, in addition to
overseeing the photography and assisting in the preparation for the
transportation of the collection; Bruce White, who provided the wonder-
ful photographs of the objects; Jerry Thompson, who photographed
the collection in situ; Charles Passela and his staff, particularly Rebecca
Branham and Ellen Rosenbery, in Photographic Services at the Getty
Museum, who prepared the photographic materials for publication;
the Conservation and Preparation staffs of the Getty Museum, espe-
cially Jerry Podany, Wayne Haak, Bruce Metro, and Rita Gomez, and
Bruce Christman, Chief Conservator of the Cleveland Museum of Art,
who managed all aspects of the complex packing, shipping, and in-
stallation of these irreplaceable pieces; Cynthia Newman Bohn, who
edited the catalogue, Katy Homans, who is responsible for its elegant
design, and Elizabeth Burke Kahn of the Publication Services staff,
who coordinated all aspects of its production.
John Walsh
Director, The], Paul Getty Museum
Robert P. Bergman
Director, The Cleveland Museum of Art
VIII FOREWORD
Preface Building a collection is an ongoing adventure and exhibiting it brings
us a special pleasure. What makes this odyssey so stimulating is meet-
ing so many talented people, all of whom enrich our lives. Planning
this exhibition has been a joy, giving us the opportunity to work with
co-curators Marion True and Arielle Kozloff, two extraordinarily gifted
friends. We would like to thank the staff of the }. Paul Getty Museum,
a community of helpful and able people headed by John Walsh, who
have contributed greatly to making this a most happy experience. In
particular we are grateful to Deborah Gribbon, Dorothy Osaki, Rita
Gomez, and Wayne Haak.
We are also most appreciative of the staff of the Cleveland Museum
of Art, and its director, Robert P. Bergman, for making possible the ex-
hibition's stay in Cleveland.
Interpreting our acquisitions is exceedingly important and has been
accomplished by the intelligent and insightful catalogue text written
by Maxwell L. Anderson, Janet Grossman, Robert Guy, Kenneth
Hamma, Sybille Haynes, Ariel Herrmann, John Herrmann and
Annewies van den Hoek, Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, Arielle Kozloff, Leo
Mildenberg, Andrew Oliver, Michelle Roland, Oliver Taplin, Elana
Towne, Dale Trendall, Marion True, and Karol Wight, with additional
help from Jack Ogden, whose reports on the jewelry in the collection
served as the basis for the catalogue entries on those objects, and Anne
Leinster, who assisted in the verification of the bibliographic citations.
Scholars from all over the world have served as our professors in
the informal university that antiquity collecting creates, and we have
benefited enormously from their deep and varied knowledge. We must
mention Maxwell L. Anderson and Dietrich von Bothmer, who from
early days encouraged our reactivated interest in the ancient world,
and others, like Michael Padgett, Brian Cook, and Dyfri Williams, who
continue to share their enthusiasm and knowledge with us.
As we continue to build this collection we must acknowledge the
vital role so many others play in assisting us. The antiquity dealers
combine their particular knowledge and enterprise to make these
beautiful and unique objects available to us and we have learned much
from them.
Bruce White, whose splendid photographs enhance this catalogue,
has been a boon to us. Lisa Pilosi helps watch over the physical condi-
tion of our treasures, and William Stenders has ably assisted in mount-
ing the objects for display at home.
Friendship runs like a thread through our many associations with
the people who inhabit this fascinating world. In particular we want to
mention our friends and fellow collectors Shelby White and Leon
Levy, who, in connection with the exhibition, are so generously under-
IX