Few pairings go together quite like art and wine. Founded in 2011, The Donum Collection has become one of the world’s largest privately owned sculpture collections open to the public. Set across the rolling vineyards of The Donum Estate in Sonoma, it features over 60 monumental works by leading artists from 18 countries and six continents, including Ai Weiwei, Ghada Amer, Doug Aitken, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Keith Haring and Subodh Gupta.

The collection continues to grow, with its latest addition by Sanford Biggers (b. 1970, Los Angeles) unveiled in June 2025. Known for his sculptural patchworks that explore historical representations of the body and their layered narratives, Sanford engages with recent scholarship on the “white-washing” of classical Greco-Roman sculpture and the early 20th-century “black-washing” of African art objects.

His Oracle (2020), a striking 25-foot-tall bronze sculpture weighing 15,000 pounds, merges African and Greco-Roman influences. It challenges revisionist art history and questions how European ideals have shaped dominant ideas of beauty and form. Join us in conversation with Sanford to hear more about the inspiration and story behind this work.

Q: What drew you to the figure of Zeus to comprise the body of ‘Oracle’?

A: While researching and collecting forms for this series, I was drawn to objects and figures from mythology and antiquity and by the ways that I could explore narratives and perceptions around them by creating a patchwork of Greco-Roman icons and traditional African sculptures.

Q: How do you choose which African and Greco-Roman references to combine in works from your ‘Chimera’ series?

A: The ‘Chimera’ series emerged when I was living in Rome and was surrounded by objects from antiquity. I became curious about the complexity of ancient Rome as a social and cultural incubator, and the objects and sculptures that we see from that period versus what life was really like there. When looking at my own collection of African sculptures, I began to discover ways to combine elements of the works that encouraged closer inspection and invited viewers to find connections between the whitewashed sculptures of European antiquity and the blackwashed sculptures of Africa.

Q: Why did you shift from marble to bronze for ‘Oracle’?

A: The ‘Oracle’ form is the only sculpture in bronze from the ‘Chimera’ series. The 25-foot scale work was originally commissioned for Rockefeller Plaza in New York City by Art Production Fund. Bronze speaks to the history of Rockefeller Plaza and facilitates a dialogue between ‘Oracle’ and the other sculptures in that space, including Zeus, Atlas, and Prometheus.

Q: How do you see ‘Oracle’ challenging traditional readings of classical sculpture?

A: ‘Oracle’ encourages us to reconsider our approach to traditional sculpture by remixing form and materials into an object that appears familiar but invites closer examination. ‘Oracle’ prompts viewers to question their previous understanding of classical sculpture and how it can interact with contemporary art and culture to create new narratives.

Q: What conversations do you hope this work sparks about cultural memory and power?

A: Various cultures, mythologies, and artworks all lent themselves to the creation of ‘Oracle,’ forging a new history for the sum of its parts. The inclusion of the African elements, and the de-centering of the European sculptural narrative as the focus acts as a truer metaphor for the myriad commingling of cultures and histories that create our current society.

This work holds a special place for us, having followed its journey over the years. Club members had the privilege of seeing Oracle unveiled at Rockefeller Center in 2021, where Sanford shared his insights with us firsthand. We’re looking forward to experiencing the piece in a new setting during our upcoming visit to The Donum Estate, part of our art trip to Napa Valley this September!