97 In the 1974 inaugural exhibition that presented 318 works, half of them were from Neuberger’s collection. The other half was a combination of loans, gifts, and bequests from important local collectors. Among these were seventy-four African art objects lent from the collection of Aimee and Eliot Hirshberg. The inclusion of so many African art objects in an exhibition of modern art was highly unusual in a university setting. Although in his 2002 memoirs, Neuberger mentions only in passing Lawrence Gussman’s African art collection, which was also influential in the museum’s development, he was nevertheless familiar with African art, having himself acquired a few objects,3 and later commenting in an interview, “The more we know about the world, the more exciting it will be!” Over the years, the Hirshbergs’ seventy four loans became gifts to the museum, the final one in 1984 being a splendid chi-wara headdress that had been in the Helena Rubinstein Collection (fig. 2). These loans became a source for temporary installations and exhibitions of African art, thus ensuring its continued presence in the museum.4 The Eyes Behind the Objects Who was Aimee Hirshberg and where did her interest in Africa come from? An adventurous, active, and independent woman whose interests ranged from botany, landscape gardening, and golf to social issues (education and civic matters), Hirshberg became interested in African art through her brother-in-law, Paul Tishman, himself an avid collector of African art, whose collection is now at the National Museum of African Art (NMAA), Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. In the mid 1960s she began visiting New York galleries and discussing objects with him. She made her first trip to Africa with Eliot in 1966. Fascinated by the flora and fauna and eager to meet people and learn about their culture, she subsequently made another trip there, during which she recorded what she saw in photographs and on film. The few art objects she bought in Africa resulted from meeting people rather than looking for works of art. The rest of the objects in their collection were acquired mostly from New York galleries and at auction.5 She bought two extraordinary objects at the notable 1966 Helena Rubinstein auction, the above-mentioned Bamana chi-wara headdress (fig. 2) and a Mossi mask, the latter now in a private collection. Eliot had little interest in African art, but he nonetheless encouraged her to collect because of her determination and love for African art. Neuberger’s curiosity about all cultures eventually elicited her donation, and those of others, to the museum. FIG. 4 (left): Post figure, movenga. Tsogo, Mimongo region, central Gabon. 20th century. Wood, kaolin, black pigment. H: 190.5 cm. Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, inv. 1979.19.01. Gift of Eliot P. Hirshberg from the Aimee W. Hirshberg Collection of African Art. Photo: Jim Frank. FIG. 5 (right): Post figure, movenga. Tsogo, Mimongo region, central Gabon. 20th century. Wood, kaolin, black pigment. H: 190 cm. National Museum of African Art, inv. 2005-6-226. Gift of Walt Disney World Co., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.
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