B y A n a s t a s i a S t a n m e y e r
I t’ s easy to see how Aso Tavitian was a favorite of curators, conservators, and dealers. He was eager to learn and passionate about the art he collected. He was not only friendly with art experts, he welcomed them into his country house in Stockbridge and townhouse in Manhattan. He not only valued their opinions, he met up with them at art fairs and often called on them for advice. He not only was generous, he used his wealth to help others and, in a final act of benevolence, he set in motion a gift to the Clark Art Institute that will forever change the institution.
The Clark’ s Olivier Meslay, Esther Bell, and Kathleen Morris developed friendships with Tavitian and worked closely with him through the years. As he was making estate planning considerations, Tavitian sought to preserve a core group of his collection and ultimately looked to the Clark to construct a wing where it would be exhibited. He was drawn to the museum because it offered an intimacy that he shared with the artwork he collected.
“ Aso, like many people, had a feeling that at the Clark, your relationship to objects here is probably more similar to the one you have in a private house than the one you have in a very large institution,” says Meslay, the Clark’ s Hardymon Director.“ The museum is quite intimate, which was fitting for his own taste. It is also open to the world, the collection is of highest quality, and it is in a beautiful, natural setting. The Berkshires was a place that Tavitian loved.”
The planning of the gift was accelerated after Tavitian received a cancer diagnosis in the fall of 2019. Everyone thought he had years to live. He died six months later, on April 21, 2020. The details of the gift, including selecting the artwork, were yet to be determined. Meslay, Morris, and Bell subsequently took their time to carefully study Tavitian’ s private collection. They approached the process with deep scholarship and understanding, returning to Tavitian’ s residences to spend time with some 3,000 paintings, sculptures, furniture, and decorative arts pieces, taking in the features and the spaces these works shared.
“ There was a lot of pleasure to go back and see the pieces and to say,‘ Oh, I was not remembering how the marble is translucent with the light coming through.’ Or,‘ This bronze has a beautiful patina.’” says Meslay.“ We were certainly very attentive, because we knew we were making a decision which would have an impact on the Clark for the long term.”
It was, in fact, a curator’ s dream. Tavitian’ s private collection was among the finest in the world of early modern and early 19th century art. The trio ultimately selected 331 objects— 132 paintings, 130 sculptures, 39 drawings, and 30 decorative arts objects— that will reside in the future Aso O. Tavitian Wing of the Clark. The Tavitian Foundation allocated more than $ 45
million for construction of the wing and to endow a curatorial position and an additional staff member to oversee the collection, and provide necessary support and long-term care for the collections. Selldorf Architects is in the early stages of planning and designing a 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot facility that will connect the existing Manton Research Center and the original 1955 Museum Building. They anticipate its opening to be in 2028.
“ This is an incredible legacy; the ultimate act of generosity,” says Bell, the Clark’ s Deputy Director and Chief Curator.
WHO WAS ASSADOUR OHANES TAVITIAN?
Who was this person of such wealth whose legacy will be shared with everyone?
“ He was a very low-key person,” says Candace Beinecke, Tavitian’ s good friend and lawyer, as well as president of The Tavitian Foundation and co-chair of The Met’ s Board of Trustees.“ He was not a self-promoter. It was never about him. He was the smartest
Opposite page, from the collection of Aso Tavitian, who is pictured on this page at the Clark Art Institute. Most of these paintings were gifted to the Clark from The Tavitian Foundation, with the exception of Portrait of Margaret of Austria, which was sold at Sotheby’ s for $ 1.4 million. Top row, from left:, Angolo Bronzino, Christ Carrying Cross( c. 1555 – 60); Master of the Magdalene Legend, Portrait of Margaret of Austria( 1480- 1537); Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of a Young Man( c. 1613 – 15). Bottom Row, from left, Wallerant Vaillant, Self-Portrait in a Turban( 1650 – 75); Jacques-Louis David, Portrait of Dominique-Vincent Ramel de Nogaret( 1820); and Jacopo da Pontormo, Portrait of a Boy( c. 1535 – 40 or later).
May Holiday / June 2023 2025 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // 13