Six Decades of Collecting Art: Conversations with Lady Sainsbury

By Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll

Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll with Lady Sainsbury, 2001

Lisa Sainsbury has been collecting art for over sixty years. She first started collecting with her husband, Sir Robert, soon after they married in 1937 and they made most of their purchase decisions together until his death two years ago, at the age of 92. Though almost ninety, Lisa continues to collect with elan and impeccable taste, especially modern ceramics and examples of Japanese religious art. She also continues to actively support the various institutions that she and her husband have helped establish over the past few decades, including the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, to which this special issue of Orientations is devoted. In conversations last December, Lisa shared with me some of her memories of collecting art with Robert, and their long-standing enthusiasm for Japanese art of every period. `Our first joint purchase was the Portrait of Baranowski by Modigliani, which is, in fact, the painting that we sold in 1999 to fund an endowment for establishing the Sainsbury Institute. All our major purchases we agreed on together. Early on in the forming of our collection, I think going to weekly tea parties hosted by George Eumorfopoulos was very important. My in-laws and George were very close, and we were invited to the parties he held for friends and fellow collectors. We were by far the youngest people there, and though George didn't have any children he liked young people. We spent a good deal of time talking with him about art and collecting. His own collection was fabulous; part of it was auctioned at the beginning of World War II. One piece that we admired greatly in his collection was an exquisite eleventh century Khmer torso, which we were able to acquire at Sotheby's in 1940. It had always been one of our favourite pieces, and is now on display at the Sainsbury Centre.' When asked if any of the pre-war collectors who met at the Eumorfopoulos tea parties held Japanese art in high esteem, Lisa smiled and quickly remarked, `No, quite the contrary. Chinese art was highly prized. If you were told something was Japanese, that was the final straw. It was absolutely damning! That, however, did not stop us from eventually collecting a good deal of Japanese art. Bob had already been collecting Chinese art before our marriage, including four Tang dynasty tomb figurines he bought in the early 30s. But we didn't begin to collect Japanese art until a few decades later.' The collection the Sainsburys eventually assembled is remarkable for its chronological and geographical breadth - prehistoric objects from the Americas and every part of the globe, nineteenth and twentieth century paintings and drawings, and a world-class assemblage of modernist works by Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and Francis Bacon, just to mention a few of their interests. In the early 1970s, the Sainsburys donated most of their collection to the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, where it is housed at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a gallery and study facility designed by Norman (now Lord) Foster. `We never thought about collecting anything specifically,' Lisa reflected, `our collection was never planned. It happened naturally. Even now, while I continue to buy Japanese pieces, I also collect things in other areas.' She recalled how her husband would always tell people that trying to explain one's positive reaction to a particular work of art is as impossible as trying to explain why one is physically attracted to a particular person. To my query about what gave her the impetus to go on collecting, she replied: `Seeing marvellous things always gives me pleasure. All the works of art that Bob and I acquired, and even the ones that I've purchased recently, have been or will be donated to the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. They're on view for all to see. The Sainsbury Centre has always been one of our passions, it's truly a magnificent place.' Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury are among the most prominent benefactors of the arts in the United Kingdom in modern times, and most recently they sponsored the establishment of the new Sainsbury African Galleries at the British Museum. When I asked Lisa about the story behind the gift of their vast collection, she retraced the somewhat unpredictable turn of events leading to their decision: `Bob had decided that he might give the collection to Cambridge, where he went to university, but then discovered that they would have to divide it between various institutions, and he wasn't keen on such an arrangement. He had an American friend who introduced us to the wife of Professor Thistlewaite, UEA's first vice-chancellor. One day, quite out of the blue, they suggested that we might consider giving the collection to the new university, located about two hours north of London, where the students otherwise would not have regular opportunities to view original works of art. We thought this an excellent idea, and then turned to Norman Foster to build the Centre - it was his first public building.' When the Sainsburys first met Foster at their London home in Smith Square, they talked for hours and were completely captivated by his enthusiasm and visionary architectural concepts. Lisa has a personal interest in modern ceramics. Just last year, Cyril Frankel curated and wrote a catalogue for an exhibition, focusing on her extensive collection of works by Hans Coper, Lucie Rie and other potters the Sainsburys befriended over the years. Although she favours Western ceramics, there is an unusual `Cornish pitcher' by Shoji Hamada. It was made in Japan during the 1950s but probably inspired by the years Hamada spent in Cornwall with the celebrated British potter Bernard Leach. To represent Leach's pottery in the exhibition, Lisa personally selected a tenmoku-style stoneware vase that she had acquired in 1990. Among the contemporary ceramicists, Rupert Spira is a favourite: `I still buy his works. I bought some a few months ago, and I've just commissioned him to make a piece for the entrance hall of the Institute.'

The Sainsburys started collecting Japanese art in earnest in the early 1960s, and have acquired objects regularly ever since. Lisa regrets that she and Robert never found time to visit Japan when they were young, but their enthusiasm for its art remained undiminished. `Our very first purchase of Japanese art was an enchanting miniature Jomon clay mask, only a few inches wide. Since then we have acquired a number of objects from the Jomon period including several figurines and three earthenware vessels. In the late sixties we bought an eighth century pagoda-shaped reliquary with printed charms inside - a million were made, but relatively few survive. Its shape and proportions are perfection.' Indeed, one of the strengths of the collection is religious art. Lisa explained: `I've always been fond of Japanese religious arts - Bob and I were especially impressed by works with Shinto associations. In the late 1980s we bought a fine ancient wooden Shinto head from Sugimoto Hiroshi, one of our very favourite objects. Sugimoto was a friend of ours when he was still primarily an art dealer; photography was only his secondary interest. Even so, his work as a photographer is absolutely wonderful, and we acquired a few early examples of his seascapes. In fact, four or five years ago, there was an exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre of his Hall of Thirty-three Bays series, curated by Nicole Rousmaniere.' Along with archaeological objects, the Japanese collection includes a particularly fine selection of Negoro lacquerware, with beautiful mottled red-and-black surfaces that particularly appealed to Robert. The Sainsburys also acquired a few examples of ceramics and a good number of paintings. But Lisa denies favouring any particular work over another. Still, basic preferences have shaped the collection: `We acquired several beautiful hanging scrolls, which I enjoy very much. Among our earliest purchases were ink paintings by Taiga and Goshun bought in the mid-70s, and a few years later we bought a small album of twelve landscapes by Chikuto - these are my special favourites. But for some reason woodblock prints never appealed to us, so we don't have any in the collection. Likewise, we bought a number of ancient Japanese and Chinese ceramics, but no export porcelain - that has never particularly appealed to me either. So you see, as Bob always said, we should never try to acquire something simply because it filled a gap.' Ancient Buddhist and Shinto works which convey a sense of spiritual solace and calm beauty with universal appeal are among the recent purchases Lisa has made since Robert's death. She noted: `I have recently bought a Kasuga Deer Mandala, which hangs near my bed, and a meticulously detailed Kamakura painting of Dainichi Buddha, which is already at the Sainsbury Centre. One of my latest purchases is an exquisite small bronze statue of Buddha at birth. I now have two early Japanese examples and one fourteenth century Korean example.' One of these was used for the cover of the volume of lectures celebrating the inauguration of the Sainsbury Institute.

The Sainsbury Institute was founded in January 1999 through the generosity of the Sainsburys as an expression of their devotion to the arts of Japan. Established as an independent entity, the Institute is officially affiliated with UEA and has formal academic and institutional associations with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. Nicole Rousmaniere, then teaching Japanese art at UEA, was asked by the Sainsburys and the newly assembled Management Board to serve as its first Director. Simon Kaner, a specialist in Japanese archaeology, has recently been appointed Assistant Director and is also based in Norwich. Senior Research Associates Timon Screech and John Carpenter teach Japanese art history at SOAS and help organize Institute-sponsored lectures and colloquies in London. The Institute's international outlook is furthered by its annual funding of a senior visiting scholar from Japan and three post-doctoral fellows from North American and Japanese institutions. While the Institute was officially inaugarated in the spring of 2000, its headquarters, located in the idyllic setting of the Norwich Cathedral precinct, were only completed last October. Architect Michael Morrison and designer George Sexton worked together to refurbish a Georgian building, creating comfortable and well-appointed facilities, including offices and shared work areas, seminar rooms and a library, which we hope will provide an ideal research environment for staff and visiting scholars. We are particularly proud of the new library at Norwich, named after Lisa in recognition of her enthusiasm for the project. The Lisa Sainsbury Library has already benefited from several generous donations. Among the first collections to be acquired was part of Janet Leach's personal library, a collection of approximately 200 books on East Asian ceramics once owned by her husband Bernard. As it resonated with her own collecting interests, Lisa decided to acquire the Leach collection for the fledgling library when it came up at auction. Several other important gifts have come in rapid succession, including a large collection of books on Japanese art and history donated by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, a former British ambassador to Japan and a noted scholar in his own right. Most recently, a superb collection once belonging to Matsushita Takaaki, one of the foremost Japanese art historians of the twentieth century, was promised to the Institute. Arranged for by his son-in-law Kawai Masatomo of Keio University, the gift, consisting of over 15,000 volumes, will be donated to the library next year. With this comprehensive collection of books as its core, the Sainsbury Institute will soon have the largest library of Japanese art studies in Europe. The donated books are now being catalogued at SOAS and integrated into their online catalogue, and will be accessible via the Internet and inter-library loan. We also expect that scholars wishing to take full advantage of the collection and pleasant working conditions will find opportunities to visit the Institute in Norwich. Like Robert and Lisa, who collected art that did not always fit into the dominant culture of the society or country in which it was made, the Sainsbury Institute emphasizes the plurality of Japanese cultures, and encourages the study of all arts and cultures of the Japanese archipelago in their diversity, from prehistory to the present. It is our hope that the Institute will help link scholars from all over the world in collaborative research networks, and share the fruits of this research through colloquies and publications. On behalf of Lady Sainsbury and her family, we would like to thank Orientations and its editors for providing such an attractive forum for the publication of recent research by Institute members.