Art Gèlèdè, miroir d'une société

The Musée Africain of Lyon is currently showing an exhibition showcasing the art of the Gelede tradition. Devoted to the honor of women, Gelede are the most important spectacles in the Yoruba-Nagos culture, mainly located in eastern Benin, southwestern Nigeria and eastern Togo. The Gelede tradition was born in Benin in the late eighteenth century, and is still very much alive today among the Yoruba, Nago and Fon cultures. The exhibition features thirty masks and objects from the Jean-Yves Augel collection.

For more information, visit the official website.

Image courtesy of the Musée Africain de Lyon

Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art at Kean University

Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art, on view through April 18 at Kean University’s Karl and Helen Burger Gallery, comprises twenty-eight Yoruba masterpieces from Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, all sourced from the collection of the Newark Museum. The pieces in the show, which were produced from the late nineteenth through the twentieth century, highlight the relationship between art and the spiritual world.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Staff of authority, ipawo ase  -  Nigeria

Crown, ade abetiaja  -  Nigeria, 1970s

Twin figure, ere ibeji  -  Nigeria, 20th century

Sword of authority, ida ase  -  Nigeria, 19th–20th century

Dance vest with Esu figures  -  Nigeria, 19th–20th century

Divination tray, opon ifa  -  Nigeria, first half of 20th century  -  Attributed to Areogun or atelier

Egungun mask  -  Nigeria, 20th century

Information and images courtesy of Kean University and the Newark Museum.

Heroic Africans at the Met

This fall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled a stunning exhibition highlighting eight major sculptural traditions from West and Central Africa. Focusing on canonized portraiture of storied, nigh-mythical chieftans, kings, and other larger-than-life elite, Heroic Africans. Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures traces the histories of these cultures through the chronology of the individuals they enshrined, sculpted images of whom were often the only tangible historical record left to posterity. 

The masterpieces on display represent the Akan, Bangwa, Kom, Chokwe, Luluwa, Kuba, and Hemba cultures, as well as the civilizations of Ife and Benin. Equally impressive on aesthetic, conceptual, and curatorial levels, the installation offers audiences unprecedented experiences on every side. The in-depth examination of specific identities and personal histories to which visitors are treated here is already uncommon in African exhibitions, let alone one that encompasses such a wide variety of exceedingly beautiful and disparate works. 

Beginning from this rare and challenging theme, Heroic Africans leads viewers through a great hall of champions, from culture-founders to queen mothers, concluding with an amazing assemblage of twenty-two Hemba commemoration figures, such an overwhelming gathering of which has never been seen before.

Visit the official website here.

Images courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

International Tribal Art Book Prize awarded on November 29th

The second annual International Tribal Art Book Prize was delivered on November 29th at Sotheby's Paris. The awards went to Congo River by Francois Neyt (Published by Fonds Mercator Branly) and Man Ray, African Art, & the Modernist Lens by Wendy A. Grossman (Published by International Arts & Artists). 

An international jury of magazine editors, tribal art scholars and collectors chose the winners based on strict criteria, including the quality of evidence presented, the interest of the topic at hand, iconography, the quality of printing, and accessibility to a wide audience. This year's candidates must have been published between October 2009 and September 2010. The prize is awarded to one French book and one English book each year. 

The books shortlisted include Teotihuacan: City of Gods, Exhibition at the Musee du Quai Branly, edited by Felipe Solis; Benin: Collection Visions of Africa by Barbara Plakensteiner; The Arts of Africa by Dr. Roslyn Adele Walker; and White Gold, Black Hands: Ivory Sculpture in Congo Vol. 1 by Marc Leo Felix et al. 

Last year's winners were Quai Branly Museum - The Collection, edited by Yves Le Fur and published by Skira Flammarion (French title) and James Cook & the Exploration of the Pacific, edited by Adrienne L. Kaeppler and Robert Fleck and published by Thames & Hudson (English title). 

Source: www.prixelivretribal.com

Sotheby's African & Oceanic Auction - Paris December 5, 2007

On December 5, 2007 Sotheby's Paris has two auctions -
1) A single owner sale of 15 lots from Brian & Diane Leyden's great Bete & Senufo collection and
2) A sale of 158 lots from various owners.

I imagine the Leyden's are using the strong market for top material to lighten up on a few items and allow them to diversify their collection. The pieces are first rate and should do well.

Highlights of the single owner sale include a Benin plaque (est 150,000 - 250,000 EUR), a Cameroon Fon figure (est 250,000 - 350,000 EUR and pictured above , a Kwele mask (220,000 - 280,000 EUR) and a stunning squatting Bembe figure at 70,000 - 100,000 EUR (pictured above)

The sale features a handful of lots from South and East Africa (lots 95 - 104). Lot 99 comprises 12 Zulu spoons and was acquired in a small auction in South Africa 2 months ago. Lot 100 comprises 2 pipes and 2 snuffs including an interesting zoomorphic pipe. Lot 101 is a maternity figure, slightly stubby and not quite as elegant as the finest Baboon Master staffs, but authentic nevertheless and this is reflected in the estimate of 6,000-9,000 EUR. Lots 103 and 104 (illustrated above) are quite unusual Lozi walking sticks, probably made for resale, but attractive and nicely carved (est. 3,000-5,000 EUR and 4,000 - 6,000 EUR respectively).