Page 16 - Vision & Ecstasy - Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione's St. Francis.

Fig. 4. speciality. I had recently concluded the acquisition of G.B.Castiglione’s great St. Francis in
Fig. 5a. Ecstasy composition, the subject matter of this catalogue (Fig. 3) and I arranged a visit to Jasna
Fig. 5b. Polana, her Princeton residence5. (Fig. 5a)There, on the first occasion, I lunched with Basia
and Seward Johnson I, then about 86. Seward’s passion was oceanographic exploration6.
However in his younger days he had had a passion for sailing.7 (Fig. 4)Clearly we had something
in common though at that time I did not have a connection with the august firm of Sparkman
& Stephens for I only became friends with the great, late Olin Stephens in 1995. Seward and
I hit it off discussing sailboats and paintings, a heady mix, and it was he who enthused about
the Castiglione, as Basia often has confirmed to me, and insisted they had to have it.And so it
was sold to the Johnsons not long before Seward died in 1983 after appearing in our inaugural
exhibition Important Italian Baroque Paintings 1600-1700 in the new gallery space, purpose
built, at 7-8 Mason’sYard in 1981.

My visits to Princeton became more frequent and I was always greeted by Prince, the
exceedingly rumbustious boxer dog, who would knock you to the ground if you gave him half
a chance and Julie, Basia’s favoured dachshund who used to flirt with me (at table!). The
fabulous enclosed pool with its aquamarine specially treated bottom was another attraction.
After Seward passed Basia inherited, it is said, over $400,000,000. Sadly, thereafter, there
ensued an ugly family feud over the inheritance even though the children by earlier marriages
had already received settlements and I consequently deposed testimony on Basia’a behalf
against some of the calumnies being levelled against her. (Fig. 5b)

After the lawsuit was settled Basia devised the idea of building a lavish baroque inspired
mausoleum in the grounds.The chapel was to be Berniniesque and beneath the altar it was

5. Jasna Polana (bright meadow in Polish) was a magnificent Italianate house outside Princeton set in a heavily wooded large
park. The stone for its construction and the ornate iron gates were shipped from Poland. The house was huge and had a
magnificent swimming pool.

6. Harbor Branch, Florida.
7. He had a series of metre boats, Jill design #16 an early winning Sparkman & Stephens 6 metre was followed by Jack design

#30 and Mood also designed by S & S #104 and built by Henry Nevins in 1936. J. Seward Johnson sailed Mood on the victorious
American team in the 1936 British-AmericanTeam Race with the virtualWho’sWho of American yachting of the time.
Jill was recently owned by Knight Coolidge, and more recently totally rebuilt.

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