Many of the exhibits in Carnival & Cabaret come from the magnificent collection of David Farin, and his late wife Esther.  Their passion for European porcelain was inspired by their travels around the world and they acquired more than two thousand pieces. Their vast collection from factories such as Meissen, Nymphenburg and Rosenthal is now cared for by WMODA.

David Farin was born in Colombia in 1923, a descendent of Spanish Jews forced to flee during the Inquisition. He studied law in France and during the Second World War he fought with the French resistance while the rest of his family went into hiding. Miraculously, his relatives all survived the war. After the war he moved to Cuba where he married Esther in 1957. They came to the US in 1965 and became American citizens on the 4th of July 1970.

Together David and Esther ran a very successful business and raised their family of four children. When they retired in 1985, they embarked on 20 years of world travel to learn about the history, culture and traditions of different countries. They visited nearly every continent in the world with the exception of Antarctica and began to collect works of art inspired by their shared character traits - curiosity and a love of beauty.

European porcelain became their consuming passion and they filled their Florida home with over 2,000 exquisite sculptures, mainly from the great German factories such as Meissen and Rosenthal. They particularly admired white blanc de chine porcelain and many of their acquisitions date from the 1920s. The cabaret dancers of Weimar Berlin appealed to their aesthetic and are among the highlights of the Carnival & Cabaret exhibition.

Last year, David decided that WMODA would be the home of their entire porcelain collection because he wanted many people to be able to enjoy his porcelain pieces. The Farin collection complements the WMODA collection perfectly as Arthur Wiener has focused mainly on British ceramic art and his Royal Doulton carnival themed figures are on display in the new exhibition.

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