Untitled (Crucifixion)

Notable patrons of American art, Eloise and Otto Spaeth supported the arts in several capacities. While Otto was a vice president of the Whitney Museum of American Art and president of the American Federation of Arts (AFA), Eloise was an active trustee of the AFA and deputy commissioner of the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1952. During their years of involvement with the AFA in the early 1950s, many programs for art diplomacy were established, including a relationship with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The head of USAID's office in Calcutta at the time, Thomas Needham, was a friend and major patron of Jamini Roy, and it is possible that the Spaeths had a connection with the artist and his circle in Calcutta through their association with USAID. Art that was inspired by the stories of Christ was an emphasis in their collecting, and Otto was a president and director of the Liturgical Arts Society and a delegate at the first Congress of the World's Catholic Artists in Rome in 1951. It is not surprising, then, that Roy's interpretations of Christian themes and iconography resonated with them. The Spaeth Foundation for Art, established by Otto and Eloise in 1950, supports young artists and architects, and promotes the indigenous Catholic art movement in the United States.