On the occasion of UMMA’s exhibition The Connoisseurs’ Legacy: The Collection of Nesta and Walter Spink, Vishakha N. Desai (M.A., ‘75; Ph.D., ‘84), President Emerita, Asia Society, and Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President, Columbia University; and Martha Tedeschi (M.A., ‘82), the newly appointed Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director of the Harvard Art Museums, return to Ann Arbor.
Moderated by UMMA Director Joseph Rosa and including exhibition co-curators, Carole McNamara and Natsu Oyobe, this UMMA Dialogue will take place on Friday, Sept. 23 in UMMA’s Helmut Stern Auditorium.
UMMA’s exhibition gallery will be open and light refreshments provided from 5-6:30 p.m. before the program starts at 6:30 p.m.
“I learned from Walter Spink that no detail was too small to understand a grand monument,” says Vishakha Desai (above right). “Michigan’s graduate studies program prepared me to expand my horizons beyond a particular specialty through its incredible breadth and depth in Asian art.”
The program will touch on the legacy of Walter and Nesta Spink as collectors and teachers, and the exhibition celebrating their connoisseurship. Together Walter and Nesta Spink have influenced a nexus of artists, scholars, and museum professionals around the world who continue to shape their fields.
Walter Spink is a renowned scholar of Buddhist and Hindu art, best known for his research on the early Indian Buddhist cave of Ajanta. He is Professor Emeritus of History of Art Department, University of Michigan. Nesta Spink is the preeminent authority on the lithographs of the American artist James McNeill Whistler. She was a curator at UMMA between 1967 and 1979.
“I learned first hand from Nesta Spink the importance of sustained attention to an artist's life and work; with time and close looking comes true understanding,” says Martha Tedeschi (below right). “And of course, Nesta's warmth and natural curiosity have always made her a delightful collaborator.”
Established through the generosity of Dr. Herbert Sloan, the annual Doris Sloan Memorial Program honors one of the Museum’s most ardent friends and supporters, Doris Sloan, a long-time UMMA docent.