Tribal Art Auction at Zemanek-Münster

Zemanek-Münster will present their 81st sale of tribal art and artifacts in Würzburg on October 31.  The  large auction will present a wide array of sculptural works, highlighting a number of beautiful figures from West and Central Africa. Asian art will also be included alongside traditional works from Oceania, the Himalayas and elsewhere.

View the online catalogue.

Commemorative figure of a king  -  Bangwa, Cameroon Grassfields

Mask, dyodyomini  -  Dogon, Mali

Reliquary figure, mbulu ngulu  -  Kota, Gabon

Power figure, nkisi  -  Kongo/Mayombe/Vili, D.R. Congo

Images courtesy of Zemanek-Münster

Les Affinités Électives d'Alexis Bonew at Sotheby's

On December 10, Sotheby's will present the African art collection of Alexis Bonew in Paris. Composed in an epic manner, this collection of art from the Congo reveals the work of a humanist spirit, a lover of ancient civilisations, ancient languages, Classical and African culture; a man whose appreciation for beauty consisted as much of philosophy and science as of feeling.

View the online catalogue.

Power figure  -  Songye, D.R. Congo

Muminia mask  -  Lega, D.R. Congo

Cannabis mortar  -  Luluwa, D. R. Congo

Ivory figure  -  Lega, D.R. Congo

Power figure  -  Kongo, D.R. Congo

Images courtesy of Sotheby's

Hidden Power in African Art

Hidden Power in African Art, an exhibition devoted to African masks and sculpture on view at the Israel Museum until September 17, looks at the symbolic importance of these varied objects and particularly the roles of charges and other magical addenda. Long considered secondary accessories in the West, in reality these had more importance than the actual sculptures themselves, which were seen by the people who used them merely as vehicles for magical substances. The works selected for the exhibition, which come both from private collections and the museum's own holdings, are places into their spiritual context rather than simply relying on the secondary nature of their aesthetic qualities.

View the exhibition's official website.

Images courtesy of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Sotheby's - The Collection of Allan Stone Pt. 2

On May 16, Sotheby's New York will present two important sales of tribal art: The Collection of Allan Stone: African, Pre-Columbian & American Indian Art - Volume Two and African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art Including Property from the Krugier and Lasansky Collections, featuring a wide selection of exquisite works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Highlighting the second and final auction of The Collection of Allan Stone is a group of Songye power gigures and Kongo nail power figures from the Democratic Republic of Congo, including several by known hands.

View the online catalogue.

Power figure, nkisi nkondi - Kongo, DR Congo

Power figure, nkishi - Songye, DR Congo

Power figure, nkisi nkondi - Kongo-Yombe, DR Congo

Mask  -  Ibibio, Nigeria

Power figure - Kongo-Vili, DR Congo

Images courtesy of Sotheby's

Kongo Across the Waters

Kongo across the Waters is a collaborative project by the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida and the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. It explores connections between the art and culture of the Kongo peoples of western Central Africa and African American art and culture in the United States. The exhibition addresses cultural and artistic themes within Kongo culture, beginning with the ancient Kongo kingdom that encompassed parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Republic of the Congo and Gabon. Subjects include the arts of leadership, religion, and daily life interpreted within historical, archaeological, linguistic, musicological, anthropological and art historical contexts. On view through March 23, 2014.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Images courtesy of the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art