Winter Sale at Sotheby's

Sotheby's Paris will present its winter tribal art auction on Wednesday, December 14. Featuring a wide array of outstanding works from Africa and Oceania, the sale should generate its most intense bidding around a number of gorgeous and uncommon objects from West and Central Africa. Among the auction's most anticipated offerings will be a pair of fascinating Yoruba/Nago figural groups; an impressive anthropomorphic Dan spoon; a Bangwa power figure with numerous charge niches; a compelling and unusual Lega ivory statuette; and a beautifully rendered Luluwa bust.

View the online catalogue at the official Sotheby's website.

Robert Shapazian dies at 67; founding director of Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills

Robert Shapazian, who ran the Gagosian Gallery for a decade, is seen on a trip to Mali. Since traveling the world alone at 20, he continued to globe-trot and liked to visit African tribes.

Robert Shapazian, a scholarly art dealer who started importing art at age 13 and went on to become the founding director of the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills, has died. He was 67.

Shapazian died of lung cancer Saturday at his Los Angeles home, said Robert Dean, a friend.

"Robert just kind of sailed under the radar a bit," said Dean, who also was a colleague at the Gagosian. "He's more like a poet's poet, if the poets were collectors. He both influenced and inspired a lot of people."

When leading contemporary art dealer Larry Gagosian hired him in 1995 to oversee the launch of a West Coast outpost, he praised Shapazian's knowledge of photography, 1990s art, and artists Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp, The Times reported at the time.

Under Shapazian's direction, Gagosian shows were "always provocative," adding "a 'big time' dimension to the local scene," online magazine Artnet said in 2004. The magazine gave as an example the gallery's survey of black-and-white Warhol paintings derived from advertising.

Shapazian ran the blue-chip venue for a decade, advising collectors to do as he did: Don't invest for monetary gain but follow "ideas and feeling," he said in a 2008 interview.

Business tycoon Eli Broad was one of Shapazian's primary clients, Dean said.

From 1986 until its closing in 1994, Shapazian was director of the Venice-based Lapis Press, founded by artist Sam Francis to publish fanciful, limited-edition artists' books.

Many titles were experimental, resulting in "books with an unusual degree of presence," Shapazian told The Times in 1993.

The texts were often obscure, evocatively illustrated and of the highest quality while aiming to amuse.

An example of Shapazian's playfulness was evident in philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard's study of Duchamp. The Lapis release was covered in green velour, the same material Duchamp used for his 1934 work "The Green Box."

Robert Michael Shapazian was born in 1942 in Fresno to Ara and Margaret Shapazian.

Since he liked art, he started buying antique objects from Thailand when he was 13. He sold some of them to galleries and museums while starting his own collection, which grew to include Asian art, 18th century French furniture and illustrated Russian books.

After earning a bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley in 1964, Shapazian studied English literature at Harvard University, earning a master's in 1965 and a doctorate in 1970. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on pastoral poetry and painting in the Renaissance.

He had worked in his family's agricultural business in Fresno and built a collection of experimental photography that critics considered extraordinary.

In recent years, Shapazian taught writing and art to at-risk youths, friends said.

Since traveling the world alone at 20, he continued to globe-trot and liked to visit "very traditional tribes in distant places in Africa," he once said.

His contribution to the arts and literature had been recognized by the French government, which named him a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.

Shapazian is survived by a sister.

Sotheby's Oceanic and African Art Sale Earns $8.4 Million

Sotheby’s concluded its June sales of Oceanic and African art in Paris on Wednesday, achieving a total of $8,448,741.

Of the 82 lots on offer, 12 works from the collection of Marsha and John Friede spurred a fierce bidding competition, with many pieces exceeding their estimates. The highest-earning work in the sale was an early-19th-century Hembigurea ancestor figure from the Congo, which fetched $1,042,109 above the high estimate of $619,150. This June marks the 50th anniversary of the Congo's independence.

Other top lots included a 42-inch carved female figure by a craftsman of the Inyai-Ewa People, which earned $685,133; the work had previously been in the collection of Douglas Newton, a former curator, who built The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Another crouching female figure that had been included in the first show of Oceanic art in the U.S., at Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York in 1934, was sold for $476,897, a price that more than doubled the high estimate.

Oceanic art has inspired numerous modern masters such as Paul Klee, Alberto Giacometti, and Pablo Picasso. The sales in New York last month and Paris on Wednesday showed a continued global interest in collecting this category as they achieved strong prices far exceeding the estimates.

Source: artinfo.com
By: Louise Chen

Sizing Up A Shift In Boston’s Art Scene

Last week’s news that the Judi Rotenberg Gallery will close its doors in late June comes as a blow to the contemporary art scene in Boston and to the gallery scene on Newbury Street.

The gallery opened in 1971, and for many years it was a sleepy venue for expressionist art. Judi Rotenberg’s daughter Abigail Ross Goodman took the helm in 2001, and together with codirector Kristen Dodge turned the gallery into a space for smart, provocative, often cutting-edge art. Their roster includes hot commodities such as the video and performance team Carlson/Strom and conceptual artist Dave Cole, who has knit, among other things, a giant American flag, using utility poles as needles.

Several galleries have closed or left Newbury Street in the last two years, many due to the struggling economy. Ross Goodman says that closing Rotenberg is a personal decision, not an economic one. “I’m ready to shift my relationship to the art world in a new direction,’’ she said in an interview.

There are still strong art galleries on Newbury Street, such as its flagship Barbara Krakow Gallery, as well as Miller Block Gallery and Gallery NAGA, among others. Maybe with a reviving economy, new commercial galleries will open there. But with the exit of Rotenberg, the street is languishing; Harrison Avenue has a higher concentration of galleries, and a more forward-thinking approach to art.

Ross Goodman and Dodge developed a powerful presence and an attention to young, emerging artists in a neighborhood where the art tends to be more conservative. They also kept their commitment to many of the painters the gallery represented before they came on, straddling two demographics, and opening a world of video and conceptual art to collectors of paintings.

They have embodied and helped finesse a shift of interest in Boston toward truly contemporary art, spearheaded by the revitalized Institute of Contemporary Art. It’s sad to see them go.

Two galleries that show traditional art have exhibits up that are evidence of a growing local passion for new work. “Clothes Make the Man?’’ at Childs Gallery and “Counterpoint: The Voices of John Walker and African Art’’ at the Hamill Gallery of Tribal Art mix contemporary art with the venues’ regular inventory. Both exhibits are ambitious.

Hamill Gallery has a better space to work with — a lofty space that suits the often large-scale, bold, juicy abstract paintings of John Walker, who has chosen an array of masks and sculptures to exhibit with his work. The matchup, even under pallid fluorescent lights, is stunning.

These paintings, many never before exhibited, date from the 1980s to the present. A viewer can follow Walker’s signature forms: the rectilinear hourglass inspired by Goya’s portrait of the Duchess of Alba; the soldier with a sheep’s head who represents the artist’s father, a World War I veteran; the more recent tidal landscapes, playgrounds for paint inspired by summers in Maine. There are occasional direct evocations of tribal art: a shield from Papua New Guinea appears in “Oceania for Rachel.’’

The crosscultural connections are breathtaking. “Homage to My Father’’ features the sheep-headed soldier moldering in dark ochre tones (and a white halo) as well as a cartoon version of the figure. Several sheep’s-head puppets from Mali perch nearby, leering, funny, and dark, accentuating the painting’s morbidity and its magic.

Three gorgeous landscapes grouped together sport high horizon lines. To look at them is to drop into what lies below that line — muddy low tide coursing with gullies and dotted with boulders, or underwater, with glimpses of fish and serpentine sea creatures. Sitting before the paintings on a low platform are three Nigerian headdresses representing fish, in the same gray, speckled tones as two of the paintings. In a corner, a bird sculpture from Guinea has an S-curved neck that echoes the snaking form in the painting beside it.

The confluences between Walker’s paintings and the African objects add a startling dimension to canvases already roiling with life and grief.

“Clothes Make the Man?,’’ curated by William Stover, late of the contemporary department at the Museum of Fine Arts, also makes some terrific pairings, but the exhibit suffers from being crammed to the rafters of Childs Gallery, where it is hung salon-style.

The show examines costume and performance’s part in the perception of identity, a theme prevalent in contemporary art lately. It includes work by Triiibe and Caleb Cole, who photograph themselves in costume, and drawings by Cobi Moules and Ria Brodell, who examine gender through self-portraits. Brodell’s subdued “Self-Portrait as an Old Man (whittling)’’ hangs beneath an undated 20th-century portrait by Leo Blake, “The Sheriff,’’ who, like Brodell’s old man, is grizzled and gruff.

It’s a delight to look at some of the older works, such as William Merritt Chase’s charming 1881 painting “Dancing Girl,’’ through Stover’s 21st-century lens. Plump and blushing, with her hand to her forehead, the Italian street dancer performs for change. She has put on her demeanor, just as she has put on her clothes, and just as the three women in Triiibe, across the gallery, doll themselves up to go bar hopping in “Compatibility Quiz.’’

Source: Boston.com

By: Cate McQuaid

Bonhams in New York City During Tribal Week

A major highlight of NYC Tribal Week is the Bonhams auction on Thursday May 13th, 2010 at 1pm.. The preview of the auction as already began, but there is still time: on Tuesday, May 11th and Wednesday May 12th from 10am to 5pm the lots can be examined. There is even an extended viewing period after the auction on Thursday, May 13th from 10am-1pm.

Bonham's Fine African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art sales feature unique and traditional works from sub-Saharan Africa, Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Indonesia and Australia that were created in the early 20th Century or earlier, and works from Central and South America that were created prior to European Contact in the 16th Century. Made by the artists for religious, ceremonial or secular use within their culture, objects in the sale include figurative sculpture, masks, reliquaries, shrines, architectural ornaments, clubs, shields, vessels, stools, neck rests, instruments, body adornment and many daily utilitarian objects.

Recognizing the strong interest in African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art on both the East and the West Coasts, Bonham's auctions are held twice annually in New York and San Francisco. Our New York sales feature a diverse selection of premier items while the San Francisco sales showcase more affordable works of art. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies each auction and is distributed worldwide to collectors, dealers and institutions. A public preview precedes each auction where guests are invited to view artwork first-hand and encouraged to ask questions.



A highlight from the sale (pictured above) is an important Bamana Ntomo Mask from Mail with an estimated value of $50,000 to $70,000.

For the full catalogue of lots on sale, click here.

Authentic African Art and the Serious Collector-An Essay

This piece, by Gene R. Shreve, originally appeared on www.maineantiquedigest.com.

In the 1480's, Charles the Reckless, Duke of Burgundy, bought an African "idol" from a Portuguese nobleman. This may be the first recorded instance of sub-Saharan African art being collected by a non-African. During this time, the Portuguese traded with the Kongo Empire in what is now The Republic of Congo and northern Angola. The British Museum established one of the first displays of African art in 1753. Prominent museum collections thereafter appeared in France (1878) and Germany (1886). Sub-Saharan objects were not sought by many private collectors until the late 19th century.

Many prominent artists championed African art and were greatly influenced by it. They included Picasso, Braque, Gris, Modigliani, Matisse, Duran, and Brancusi. African art became commercially popular in the 1920's. Famous American collectors included Nelson Rockefeller, whose collection now resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Beginning with important early collectors, two attributes have been prized in a piece of African art. First, it should be an accomplished and aesthetically pleasing example of the particular indigenous form. Second, the piece should be authentic. That is, it should have seen actual use by the ethnic group it represents.

-The Central Place of Authenticity in Evaluating African Art

The distinction between reproductions and authentic ("field used") items is central to an understanding of African art. It guides museums and serious collectors.

Many African works were never intended for ceremonial use by African people. Rather, they were made for sale to outsiders from places such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. Some are obvious tourist mementos (sometimes called "airport art"). Others may be more careful renderings of indigenous forms, but by their newness and construction clearly they are reproductions. Others have been created (by distressing the items in various ways) to look as though they have been made for and have received actual indigenous use. The last mentioned are often held in disdain by serious collectors, who label them fakes, frauds, or forgeries.

Many reproductions are attractive and interesting in their own right. My purpose is not to discourage people from acquiring and enjoying them. It is true that reproductions have little investment value. Because they are "made for market," they are simply decorator items. They do not appreciate. Usually they cannot even be resold for the prices paid for them. In contrast, while authentic pieces of African art are, like all fine art, subject to market fluctuations, they have significant intrinsic worth. The current soft market notwithstanding, they can be expected to hold their value and to increase in value over time.

-What Does Authenticity Mean and Why Is It So Important?

For all of the weight attached to authenticity by museums and serious collectors, the meaning of the term remains uncertain.

Africans might find our conception of authenticity odd. We often display African ceremonial figures on a shelf or coffee table with little understanding of how the figure would be received and understood by the local culture that created it. For example, we might place a figure on casual display that was intended to be seen only on special occasions and in a special place—and then only by a select group of people. We are unaware, or perhaps indifferent, that the manner in which we have chosen to use and enjoy the figure might be regarded as sacrilegious by those who made it.

And Africans might find the notions of authenticity we associate with masks even more ludicrous. Authentic masks were almost never created to hang on a wall. Not only do we display them out of cultural and religious context, but they usually are mere fragments of the larger visual representations for which they were intended. For example, the vegetal (raffia) fibers often attached to the mask are usually gone. And the costume worn by the celebrant (often an integral part of the original creation) has almost always disappeared.

A reason for this cultural difference is that we display African art in just the ways we display Western art. We hang an African mask as we would an old master print or painting. We position African ceremonial figures as we would pieces of Classical Western sculpture. So much for literal authenticity.

Problems also exist in determining what items are entitled to authentic designation. Reproductions, of course, are not. Ambiguities, however, arise concerning just when an item has actually seen "indigenous use." For example, some masks made for local ceremonies are never danced because the village diviner rejects them as without magic or for having bad magic. Some local carvers make more masks than are necessary for the prescribed ceremony, expecting those that are not chosen by the dancers to sell to collectors. Some masks continue to be made by local carvers even though the ceremonies for which they are required have vanished. In such cases, local dancers may adorn the masks to entertain tourists.

Moral questions also arise. To keep their consciences clear, serious collectors like to think that all of their field-used pieces came onto the market under peaceful, benign circumstances. Thus they might assume that a village chief or dignitary freely sold or made a gift of the item to an outsider. This is possible but by no means certain. The item might instead have been stolen or taken by force from one horrified at the thought of losing it. Nearly as bad, the original owner might have been driven by the threat of starvation to sell the item. Outbreaks of famine, disease, and civil unrest in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa have increased the possibility that authentic pieces have come onto the market through tragic circumstances. Do serious collectors have a right to own such pieces? Does our premium on authenticity in African art encourage such violent and disruptive behavior in Africa?

Despite the aforementioned cultural absurdities, problems of definition, and moral questions, authenticity will continue to be a, or perhaps the, major preoccupation of those seriously interested in African art. For reasons of both freestanding aestheticism and anthropological fascination, it will remain important to us that the pieces that excite us also gave excitement and spiritual direction to the persons who made them. This is a human bond. It exists even if we cannot capture the nature of their experience. In contrast, reproductions are soulless. They are cynical and patronizing masquerades of belief rather than sincere expressions of belief.

This distinction between the genuine and the reproduction applies throughout fields of fine arts, antiques, and antiquities. For example, I have in my office a Windsor armchair that I found in a secondhand shop. It is nearly 200 years old. The style is emulated in new "early American" style chairs in furniture stores everywhere. Yet the difference between this chair and a new reproduction is overpowering.

The former, though covered with drab old paint, has a resonance and radiance that is palpable. When made, it represented the current fashion. It expressed the aspiration and energy of its time. It was and is alive. A shiny furniture store reproduction is in contrast a cold dead thing-disconnected from the life, heart, and time of its maker.

-How Can One Tell If a Piece Is Authentic?

Since we cannot avoid the concern of authenticity, how do we determine if a piece is authentic? Let us start with one of several possible working definitions: a piece of African art is authentic if it was made for a ceremonial or ritual purpose and was used for some period of time for its intended purpose. This excludes reproductions of any kind as well as indigenous pieces that never see actual or appropriate use. One might think that authentication is possible from a close and informed examination of the African piece, but this is not always true.

It is often said that it is easier to determine that a piece is a fake than that it is genuine. For example, discernable forgeries may have unconvincing wood surfaces (smooth, shiny, or monochromatic wood patina) or unconvincing paint aging (rubbed wear without oxidation). Beyond these easy cases, even experts frequently disagree over the authenticity of works of African art. Forgeries have become so numerous, and the forgers so good at their work, that we are fast approaching the point where anything we see could be a forgery. Thus, in determining authenticity, the history (provenance) of the piece may be more conclusive than our inspection of the piece itself. If collection of a piece that looks right can be documented as before 1925, the piece is almost certainly authentic. Until then, indigenous field-used pieces were so plentiful and cheap that there was no reason to fake them. A provenance fixing a collection in the 1930's is fairly reassuring; the 1940's a little less so, and so on.

The greatest pieces of African art are those of exceptional form with a collection provenance going back to the 19th century: works acquired by European expeditions, colonial officials, missionaries, and the like. These are prized parts of museum collections and those of wealthy collectors. When such items come on to the market, they are very expensive, certainly beyond the reach of most collectors. Works that most serious collectors can afford usually will lack a conclusive provenance at all.

This does not mean that serious collectors must abandon hope of acquiring authentic pieces, only that they must be patient, careful, and realistic. One must try to limit acquisitions to pieces with signs that are consistent with authenticity (actual field use). Collections built on this basis should contain many authentic pieces along, regrettably, with some forgeries. It may never become entirely clear to the collector or to those examining the collection which is which.

Some of the signs thought to suggest authenticity are sweat stains, smoke odor, evident use of primitive hand tools, local repairs, wood patina, paint oxidation, stains or discoloration, libations, and damage. Sweat stains that darken the wood can occur in the outer portion of the back of the mask. The odor of smoke can occur when masks or figures come close to ritual fires or when they are stored in village houses heated by wood. Evidence of the use of primitive tools (for example, an awl instead of a mechanical drill for attachment holes) occurs when results are asymmetrical or varying. Local repairs over breaks or splits in the wood include cross-stitching (with wood strips or string) and caulking (with a soil- or resin-based fixative). Wood surfaces should acquire a rich darkened color (patina) over time. Similarly, paint will react to the atmosphere by forming fine cracked ridges or other crazing (oxidation). The objects, through use or storage, may have plant or inorganic stains or discoloration that is sometimes quite vivid. The objects may be streaked or caked with material thought to add to their potency (libations). They may have suffered various forms of damage (broken or missing parts; rot from sitting on damp ground). Yet none of these signs may be conclusive, since all can be fabricated by forgers.

Some of the signs thought to suggest forgeries are smooth paint surfaces, fresh paint, evident use of modern tools, new or no raffia, no raffia attachment holes, combined representation of different indigenous forms, or crude carving. Such signs, however, may not conclusively demonstrate that a piece is a forgery.

Local practice may be that the piece is periodically cleaned or scrubbed. In addition, many have assumed, albeit incorrectly, that pieces are more attractive to serious collectors if they are cleaned down. Fresh paint on a piece may simply reflect the local practice of repainting to restore ritual power. Many indigenous carvers use modern tools and, at least as to mechanical hand drills, have been doing so for some time. Raffia may be replaced repeatedly over the life of an authentic mask. Many carefully documented masks in museum collections lack raffia attachment holes. Similarly, a single authentic mask may combine the designs of two different ethnic groups, particularly when their territories are adjacent. Finally, authentic pieces do not always display the most artistic or accomplished carving. Authentic indigenous carvers in remote areas may lack the polish of those in cities whose business is to carve reproductions of the same forms.

Thus it is unfortunately true that, while concerns about authenticity are inescapable for the serious collector of African art, definitive proof about the authenticity of a piece is often impossible to obtain. But it is also true that, as one studies objects over time, one can develop a sense about when a piece seems right. In the absence of an extensive provenance, that is about the best that one can do.

Exhibition of tribal art from India opens on note of controversy

Other Masters From India — Contemporary Creations of the Adivasis,' a stunning exhibition of contemporary tribal art from India opened on Monday at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.

Conceived and curated by Jyotindra Jain, the former director of the Crafts Museum in New Delhi and one of India's foremost historians and chroniclers of tribal art, this exhibition is not just a visual and aesthetic treat; it has been put together diligently and intelligently, taking the viewer down the years, from the time when tribal art was ritualistic and iconographical, confined to the walls of Adivasi homes, to the present when art has enabled contemporary artists to give voice to their existential predicaments, thus transforming their artistic space.

Rare photographs

The entire credit for this exercise goes to Dr. Jain's scholarship, knowledge and aesthetic sensibility. Most of the writings and several rare photographs in the detailed and richly illustrated catalogue have been contributed by him. However, the exhibition has been marred by the fact that Dr. Jain, who spent three years working on this project, has not been given adequate credit for his contribution.

The exhibition begins by examining, with some fine old prints and photographs as well as video footage from Bombay masala films, the representation of the Adivasis over time. British colonial times, when anthropologists working on theories of race measured, recorded and photographed tribals as belonging to certain “racial” types, gave way to the calendar art of the 1950s and 1960s and the caricatural depiction of the tribal by Bollywood.

Section Two entitled ‘The People' presents Adivasi populations in a non-linear manner, each one of them being characterised by its material, ritualistic and artistic productions. Gigantic Bhuta sculptures from Karnataka, made of jackfruit wood and used in ancestor worship or appeasement have been brought all the way from the Crafts Museum in New Delhi. “Some of these pieces are about 150 years old and no museum outside India has a piece of this kind,” Dr. Jain told The Hindu in an exclusive guided tour of the exhibits.

There are objects here of incredible beauty, grace, colour and cultural and religious significance: Magical healing amulets from the Nicobar Islands, votive terracotta figures from the Ayyanar tribe in Tamil Nadu, bronze figurines from Bastar (Gond) and Orissa (Kondh), clay storytelling sculptures from Sarguja in Chhattisgarh, votive tablets from Rajasthan, paintings from the Rathwa tribe in Gujarat or the jadupatua scrolls from the Santhal tribes of Bihar or West Bengal.

Contemporary artists

But the most interesting section of the exhibition is the third one, which concentrates on contemporary artists and offers visitor a series of popular paintings with a special emphasis on two remarkable artists, Jivya Shoma Mashe of the Warli tibe in Maharashtra and Jangarh Singh Shyam, a Gond from Madhya Pradesh who tragically killed himself while working as a artist in residence in Japan in 2001.

This section is visually extremely gratifying in the most contemporary “artistic” sense, where tribal art steps out of the confines of the purely ritualistic to give voice to concerns such as urban encroachment, violence practised by the state, and the influence of modern technology. In one of the Santhal scrolls, Yama, the God of death, is shown wearing a policeman's uniform, a telling comment on how the guardians of the law are perceived by a largely disenfranchised and oppressed population. Trains, airplanes (which are part mechanical, part mythical creature) telephones, mirrors, thus mingle with harvests, fields and creatures of the forest, sometimes, as in the case of a train, completing cutting the artistic space in two.

Unfortunately, the museum has failed to fully recognise Dr. Jain's work. Despite assurances given by the museum, the erratum sheet detailing the missing credits is not an integral part of the catalogue. A belated loose leaf insertion in no way corrects the error, for once an exhibition has been dismantled, the curator has only the catalogue to show for his pains.

When questioned by this correspondent, Helene Fulgence, director of exhibitions, said that in the French system, when writers of “notes” were not identified, the work was automatically presumed to be that of the overall director of the exhibition, its curator. However, she suggested Dr. Jain could have been let down or “betrayed” by his assistant, Vikas Harish.

Mr. Harish placed the blame firmly on the Quai Branly Museum: “I am not responsible for the errors. I kept Dr. Jain fully informed. I was not in charge of the publication of the catalogue.”
As the blame game continued, with a senior museum official very rudely ticking this reporter off for “giving out the wrong message,” Ms. Fulgence confirmed that Dr. Jain had not been shown a PDF version of the catalogue for his approval. She told The Hindu that had the museum honoured its commitments to Dr. Jain, it would not have been able to bring out the catalogue in time for the “official inauguration” on Monday. The exhibition opens for the public on Tuesday.

Source: The Hindi
By: Vaiju Naravane

Tribal Index online database

Tribal Index is a newly launched online database of the major African art auctions of the last forty years. The service includes an object library, with more than 40,000 illustrated art pieces, a price database and functions to personalize your research. An Oceanic database will be available in 2010.

There are 3 different levels to the database:

Bronze (FREE)

Search and View the object library

Silver

Access to object library and price database, plus construct portfolios and add personal notes

Gold

Full access including the graphic module

I would be curious to get feedback from users about their experience with the database (positive or negative) so please post comments if you have tried the service.

Daniel

Marc & Denyse Ginzberg Collection Offered at Jacaranda Tribal

Two years ago, in September 2007, the Marc & Denyse Ginzberg Collection of African Forms went on sale at the Sotheby’s auction house in Paris. The auction was unlike anything that had ever been offered before at Sotheby’s – there was no figurative sculpture, no masks, and indeed little that would mark a traditionally inclined African art collection. Instead the collection celebrated the utilitarian and the nonfigurative; it celebrated the mastery and creativity that the African artist can bring to the everyday object. The objects in the collection have pushed the boundary between form and function, being at once fine works of art and useful household objects. After forming a full and comprehensive collection, writing a popular book called African Forms, and widely exhibiting the collection in museums and galleries, the Ginzberg’s were reluctantly ready to part with it. It’s no surprise that an extraordinary collection by renowned collectors should fetch €1,032,000, with many works fetching world record prices.

Marc & Denyse Ginzberg pictured

The Ginzberg collection brought much deserved attention to an under-recognized field of African Art and has brought recognition to some very fine, nonfigurative works. Jacaranda Tribal has been fortunate enough to debut a select exhibition of the Ginzberg Collection. The exhibition includes a range of objects – all of very fine museum quality – from snuff containers to jewelry, hats to weapons. We are delighted to be able to offer such a fine collection of works to the public. Be sure to check back at our blog often, as we will be posting several blogs on individual works in the coming weeks.

These highly decorated knives from Zimbabwe and the Congo are part of the collection offered by Jacaranda Tribal

Zemanek Tribal Art Auction Results

Zemanek held its tribal art auction last week in Würzburg, Germany. The auction had a disappointing turn out in terms of persons bidding and also the lots available for sale. The sale fared just slightly worse than their last auction in March 2009 - selling only 30% of all lots offered. The best pieces offered for sale were priced around €10,000 with none exceeding €13,000. The object shown below, lot 468 a Figurine of a titled lady, was the highest priced sale fetching a total of €13,000 - well below its low estimate of €18,000. With a sale price that much lower than a stated estimate, the object was most likely available for sale without a reserve price - a very rare occurence in the art world.


On a side note: in this most recent auction, the auction house offered a sale of 'Wunderkammer Naturalia' or objects such as rare skulls, bone fragments, fossilized eggs and such of interest to Natural History aficionados. The one below, lot 9, is the fossilized egg of a daroosaur. It is still available for sale for €400. There were some very interesting and strange pieces available and it is most certainly worth a look, if just for amusement.
Dori Rootenberg
JacarandaTribal.com

New Acquisitions at Jacaranda Tribal

We just recently sent out a newsletter with information on our latest acquisitions from the Ginzberg Collection. In this latest post, we wanted to profile two of these pieces which are exceptionally fine.

This first is a Dan, Mano or Guere chair from Liberia. This chair was probably carved as a prestige object for the use of the chief. The chair comes from the Marc Ginzberg collection and was featured in the book African Forms. The chair has a striking patina.
The second is an exceptional shield is from the Nilotic people located in southern Sudan. The shields from this region are commonly made from giraffe, ox, hippopotamus or buffalo hide. This shield also includes a ball of feathers that is located on the end of the shield and is usually made of ostrich feathers with some of the owner’s hair intertwined, wooden frame and intricate leather handle. It is truely a wonderful piece and has been show in several museums including in the Neuberger Museum of Art between 2002 and 2004.
We have been so fortunate to work with such fine and rare pieces. I hope everyone will take a look at these new acquisitions at our website.

Dori Rootenberg
JacarandaTribal.com

Christie's and Sotheby's Tribal Art Sale Results

Christie's tribal art auction had a lackluster performance last week. While 196 lots sold (around 64% of all lots offered), the sale garnered just €1,017,787. This is a trifle, considering that Sotheby's pulled in nearly the same amount of money from a single lot, Lot 87, a rare Kwele 'altar' figure from Gabon. While the lot was estimated between €450,000 and €600,000, it went on to fetch €971,950 at last week's sale. That price is just €45,837 short of Christie's total auction sale - maybe Sotheby's plan to be a high market, low volume auction seller really is working.

The highest priced and sold item at Christie's sale was Lot 144, a Fang Reliquary figure that went for €51,400. It had been estimated to fetch between €40,000 and €60,000. Neither of the two pieces (Lot 236 and Lot 311) that we profiled in last week's auction preview sold.

Sotheby's had a remarkably different auction. In addition to their million euro lot 87, the auction house sold 42 lots (or 66% of total lots offered) for a total price of €3,601,500 - over 3.5 times more than Christie's. 7 lots sold for over €100,000 while all but 8 lots sold for over €10,000.

Dori Rootenberg
JacarandaTribal.com

A Talk With Susan Kloman

A few weeks ago we had the privilege to sit down and speak with Susan Kloman of Christie’s about tomorrow’s Art Africain et Océanien auction in Paris and other relevant topics. Susan is the International Specialist Head of Christie’s African and Oceanic Art department based in New York.

The following is a summary rundown of the talk, focusing on advice for collectors and potential collectors of African and Tribal Art. According to Ms. Kloman, the African and Tribal Art market is a “conoisseur’s market” – unlike the rather hasty collectors and purchasers in the contemporary market, those in our field are more contemplative, more professional, and more studied with intense “intellectual curiosity.” When compared to the contemporary or impressionist markets, the Tribal Art market is also more stable – there are “not the same peaks and not the same valleys” of the market. This means that while the contemporary art market saw a significant downturn earlier this year and many auctions took a turn for the worse, the Tribal Art market has remained significantly more level. She noted that in the field there is an identifiable “core group” of people who will and will be able to bid aggressively regardless of the economic climate for those rare and special pieces.

I asked her for some advice for new buyers of African and Tribal Art and those areas that she considered undervalued. Ms. Kloman’s biggest piece of advice is to “buy what you like.” But she did mention that Indonesian works are lacking in extensive education, museum shows, prominent collectors, dealers, and have a general lack of connoisseurship in the field. All this contributes to a lack of interest and significantly lowers prices for the quality of works available. She also mentioned works from South Africa (like those that we offer at Jacaranda Tribal) as well as Polynesian weapons and Tanzanian Objects have not yet received the widespread recognition for the quality available. With all of these objects, as well as those in fields that are doing extraordinarily well, she noted that there is a growing and “exponential divide between good and great pieces.” This means that for those truly great works that are becoming ever rarer, the prices will continue to rise so long as collecting interest remains strong.

Our conversation turned to price and collecting trends in the African and Tribal Art market. As any professional in the field, Ms. Kloman seemed hesitant to make any real predictions saying that “we’ll see where the trends go” but that there remains an “international market for African art” and collections have become quite the “mature audience.” I gathered this to mean that she believes the market will remain strong and continue increasing in price and significance. She added that this “mature audience” is clearly different from that in the 1950s and 1960s where there was “so much material available….[but] not the same kind of connoisseurship. [At that time] people were still educating themselves.” Now we have museums, auctions, impassioned collectors, dealers, and arts professionals like Ms. Kloman providing important and significant information for the collecting public. It’s no wonder that the collecting base has matured so greatly and that the market has done so well over the last few decades.

Stay tuned for our auction preview of the Christie’s auction, including more information from our talk with Ms. Kloman, coming up.

JacarandaTribal.com

Sotheby's Tribal Art Auction Preview

Sotheby’s is offering a second tribal arts auction in addition to the Chaim Gross auction on 15 May. This sale will focus on African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian art – though a majority of the best pieces are Oceanic. The sale is slated to fetch more than $3 million if all lots meet their low estimate.

The sale consists of 94 objects including two very fine African pieces:

Lot 158: a Dogon, Wakara style figure from Mali. Within the broad corpus of Dogon statuary, examples of the Wakara sub-style are exceedingly rare. This work is estimated to bring between $200,000 and $300,000.

Lot 170: a Fang-Betsi reliquary head from Gabon, Africa. The work is estimated to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000. Sotheby’s catalog describes it as follows: “this magnificent head was identified by Perrois (1972: 333) as a typical example of the "school of Mitzic" a regional substyle of the Fang-Betsi. The offered lot is distinguished by the relatively small size of the face, the bulbous forehead, and a compressed profile, all combining to a maximum effect when seen from the front.”

This, as with the Chaim Gross auction, will be an interesting marker for the Tribal Art world. We shall see how the economy will bear on this latest American auction. We hope that with several fine pieces in the sale, that this sale will do better than previous auctions this spring. 

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Lempertz Tribal Art Auction

25 April 2009 marks the annual Lempertz Tribal Art Auction in Cologne, Germany. Lempertz is one of the most well recognized art auction houses in Europe and the oldest family-owned one in the world. It has a rich history in the tribal arts field.

189 lots will be auctioned off at the upcoming auction. Those interested may see the collection at the auction house in Cologne during the coming week and in Brussels the following week.

Preview in Cologne

Tuesday 14 April - Friday 17 April

10 am - 1 pm and 2 pm - 5.30 pm

Saturday 18 April

10 am - 4 pm

Preview in Brussels

Tuesday 21 April – Friday 24 April

10 am - 6 pm

Saturday 25 April

10 am - 1 pm

The highlight of the auction is Lot 183, a Fine and Important Mangbetu Container that is estimated to fetch between €40,000 and €60,000. The Mangbetu are a culturally sophisticated tribe located in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This base of this cylindrical container takes the form of a round traditional Mangbetu stool. Its center is formed from bark and its base and the wooden lid is a finely carved human head with a heart-shaped face, pointed chin, a small 
protruding mouth, a slender 
nose and round convex eyes. The container represents the elegant face of a 
Mangbetu woman sitting on a title 
stool, wearing the typical basketry 
disc on her hair.

In addition to the Mangbetu container, there are several other lots of particular interest including Lot 40, a Fine Lobi/Birifor Pair of Figures estimated between €32,000 and €38,000.

Lot 51, a Fine Senufo Staff estimated between €20,000 and €25,000.

Lot 54, a Fine Baule Mask estimated at €36,000.

And Lot 60, a Fine Baule Female Figure estimated between €34,000 and €38,000.

Stay tuned for the results and our auction summary after 25 April.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Zemanek-Münster Tribal Arts Auction Results

The bi-annual Zemanek-Münster tribal arts auction failed to attract the attention it has become accustomed to. Despite a few major pieces, the quality of objects up for auction this March was generally weaker than we have seen at this auction house in the past. With fewer very fine or museum-quality pieces, the auction house failed to sell a majority of the works.

Only 161 (or 36%) of the 448 pieces sold at the live auction. None of the three pieces that we profiled in our last post about the Zemanek auction sold and all are still available at the auction’s after-sale. A vast majority of the sold lots had a hammer price of €2,000 or below, and many lots sold for fewer than €1,000.

To some extent this drop in quality can be attributed to the general downturn in the world economy. Few collectors are willing to consign their works for auction as the chances of having a work “burned” (or go unsold at auction) are increased. With less access to museum-quality or very fine pieces, the auction quality as a whole has been hurt.

There were just a few notable exceptions:

Lot 125, a standing male ancestor figure called a “Blolo Bian” sold for €22,000. The types of pieces are private sculptures that would have been kept in a sleeping chamber and would have received sacrificial offerings.

Lot 224, a Headdress from Igbo, Nigeria sold for €10,000. The piece is a “gentle "ekpe" ancestor headdress” which is identified by its calm, small-featured face. These types of headdresses are thought to represent the wives of the fierce elephant and monkey spirits.

In both these cases, the quality was of a higher standard than seen across the board at this auction. In a better economic time, there would have been more and better pieces like these. While we are still looking forward to the results of the after-sale which, in poor economic times, may fare as well as a live auction.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Rago Arts Auction Results

Rago Arts is a Philadelphia based auction house that has been in operation since 1994. They began specializing in 20^th century design and have since expanded their reach far beyond that. In fact, on 1 March, 2009, the auction house debuted their first tribal arts auction. The auction included over 430 tribal objects from Africa, the Pacific Islands, South America, India and North America. This Press Release by Rago Arts gives the whole lowdown on the auction.

Although the auction was eagerly  anticipated by Philadelphia-area tribal art collectors, just under 200 of the 435 lots sold during the auction (45% of all pieces), including the highlight of the show: Lot 1, a rare Chilkat Dance Blanket from the US Pacific Northwest. The piece, estimated to fetch between $20,000 and $30,000 sold at a final hammer price of $22,800. The blanket is made from hand-woven mountain goat hair, dyed with natural pigments and decorated with highly stylized clan symbols and from the mid-19^th century.  It is a fine example of a rare piece.

Several other pieces sold between $200 and $1,000 including three pieces that went for just $240. It is certainly a price point at which inexperienced collectors can get into the game. These pieces include: Lot 24, a Hopi Corn Kachina Doll from the Southwest United States that was estimated to sell for between $400 and $600; Lot 71, Hupa and Salish Baskets from the West coast of the United States that were estimated at $500 - $800; and Lot 154, a Yoruba Ibeji Twin Male Figure from Nigeria that was estimated between $400 and $600. While these three pieces sold, they did so well below their low estimate and most likely at their reserve price.

It’s hard to blame the high ratio of unsold lots on the economy – collectors have shown that if the quality is high, they will gladly step in and buy.  I would rate the results satisfactory for a first auction but look forward to seeing Rago increase the overall quality of their material.  On the whole the sale was wonderful exposure for the tribal arts world – we’re so glad that dealers and auction houses are out there educating collectors and spreading the word. Regardless of how this one sale fared, it speaks well of the growing interest of tribal arts collectors in the United States and around the world.  

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

Zemanek-Münster Tribal Arts Auction Preview

The 56^th Zemanek-Münster Tribal Arts auction will be held on Saturday 14 March, 2009 in Würzburg, Germany. The auction house specializes in African and Oceanic tribal arts from private collection. Bidders can preview the collection from Wednesday 11 March to Friday 13 March from 10am to 7pm. The auction takes place on Saturday 14^th from 9am to 1.30pm. If you can’t attend, download the PDF of the catalog.

The live auction includes 448 objects with prices ranging from a low estimate of €80 to a high estimate of €36,000. Some of the highlights include:

Lot 126: a rare “kpan” mask. Estimate: €24,000 – 36,000.

“This type of mask is part of the "goli" masquerade, a day-long performance that involves the entire village population and which displays four pairs of masks. This popular event only takes place during an important event such as the death of a notable or a major celebration. The "kpans" are the last to take part in the ballet, their appearance remaining exceptional; the ornamentation and colors are equally attributed to the two sexes, nothing making it possible to distinguish them clearly and their role remaining ambivalent. Although we still have a great many examples of Baule art, including statuettes and masks, "kpan" masks of this type are quite rare.”

Lot 150: a fine example of a “deangle” mask. Estimate: €18,000 – 27,000

“The "deangle" mask characters belong to circumcision camps ("mbon") of young boys and girls, which are always situated in the holy forest nearby the village. The camp is protected by the invisible forest ghost "nana", who appoints the "deangle" mask characters, which are responsible for food and protection of the young boys and girls. They are not accompanied by musicians and they are not singing and dancing, but moving gracefully and joking with the women, begging them to send plenty of food for the camp. They act as a mediator between camp and village.”

Lot 207: Eket Dance Crest. Estimate €20,000 – 30,000.

“The Eket are a small ethnic group belonging to the Ibibio, settling in about 45 villages. Just like the Ibibio the Eket have an “Ekpo” society, a society of soothsayers, called “Idiong,” a society named after the god of war “Ekong” and the “Ogbom” society worshipping the goddess of fertility. Dance crests like the present were used in “Ogbom” masquerades and could reach a height up to 80 cm. “

Stay tuned for the results.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com

2009 San Francisco Textile and Tribal Art Show

During February 13 -15, 2009, more than 100 of the finest international dealers in tribal art descended on San Francisco for the 2009 San Francisco Tribal and Textile Arts Show. The show, in its 23^rd incarnation, is at the forefront of the tribal art scene and is considered to be the best show of its kind in North America. At the show, you’re guaranteed to see many of the most prestigious and respected dealers from all corners of the world with a fantastic array of museum-quality sculptures, textiles and antiques.

Jacaranda Tribal exhibited for the first time and we showed some important pieces including a mid-19^th century Zulu vessel. It was gratifying to meet many collectors who were unfamiliar with the beauty and diversity of the material culture from southern Africa. The show was a success for us and we are looking forward to returning next year

African Art was only a portion of the show’s offerings. Thomas Murray, a San Francisco based dealer, showed some fine examples of Indonesian art. Michael Hamson showed art from Papua New Guinea while the Stendahl Gallery brought pre-Columbian pieces from Costa Rica. Bruce Frank Primitive Arts showed many fine Oceanic pieces and reportedly had a very strong show. There was also a fair number of Native American, Southeast Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern pieces. Paris dealer Yann Ferrandin sold a rare pair of North Nguni initiation figures while Conru presented two great North Nguni figurative sticks. The galleries were as varied as the art with dealers from San Francisco, L.A., New York, Paris, and Brussels, to name a few.

Most dealers at the fair, unsurprisingly, reported fewer sales than last year. Collectors were cautious and many held off buying until the last day. On the positive side, while Tribal Art has become an increasingly common part of the general collector’s interest, it remains under the radar. Prices didn’t skyrocket with the latest art market bubble and so we can’t expect them to fall at the same rate as contemporary or modern art prices have. It wasn’t a sold out show by any means, but this is one corner of the art market that we feel is more stable than not..

This show continues to maintain a consistently high standard. I’m always impressed with the range and variation of artworks shown here. If you haven’t been to the SF show before, it’s certainly worth a visit. Just remember: the show is large so make sure you give yourself a full day or two to really check out the art and meet some of the dealers.

Dori Rootenberg

www.JacarandaTribal.com