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Out and About:

The Beyeler Foundation (Basel, Switzerland) opened on January 25, 2009 with one of the best exhibitions of recent memory: Visual Encounters – Africa, Oceania and Modern Ar. This is an memorable exhibition and should not be missed by those fortunate to visit Basel this winter or spring. This is an breath-taking exhibition created by these two lovely people who own the Beyeler Museum.  

The curatorial focus of the exhibition is on the human figure. The exhibition features one hundred and eighty outstanding objects - chosen from the rich  on loan from over fifty private and public collections, enrich ethnological art from our own holdings, chosen by Ernst Beyeler for his museum.  Top examples of Fang, Senufo and other peoples were loaned by American museums and other museums around the world.  Interestingly, however, the Quai Branly and the Dapper Museum refused to collaborate or give some pieces on loan for the exhibition.

The catalog, unfortunately, is not up to the level of the exhibition; its over-sized format and poor choice of paper are a detraction.  Additional information on this exhibition is available at at Beyeler foundation 

The creme de la creme of the "African Art Insiders World" gathered at the Beyeler Foundation for the opening reception.   Chirac was there and he made the statement he was an active African Art collector and loved it.  Pierre Moos from "Tribal Art Magazine" and Spanish art dealer Antonio Casanova surrounded him and acted as his body guards all evening. Mr. Casanova even did pay a Spanish journalist to follow him and take pictures to publish news about this event in the Spanish newspapers. Among many other famous people I saw Kristina Van Dyke from the Menil Collection, who did a masterful reinstallation of the African galleries — the first since the Menil museum opened in 1987.

The current world-wide financial crisis is having a most direct effect upon the African art market as well.  At the present time, there is no market for lesser quality/ lesser priced tribal artworks.  The objects in demand at present are the important pieces, being purchased as an alternative investment to stocks, bonds and such. . And more and more of these important works are finding their way to market as it seems that even the owners of such objects are feeling the pinch of this recession.  And collectors are being forced to part with treasures they refused to sell as recently as last year. 

As I believe the current financial crisis will continue for some time, if you are in a position to buy, buy African Art. It has proved to be a good way to invest your money over the long term.  I overheard a well-dressed woman at the BAFA Fair say to a friend:   "Germaine, you know, I would rather buy a painting than let a bank steal my money."  

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More news:

"Sleeping with the Leopard: African Art from Cameroon," at the Figge Art Museum (Davenport, Iowa) continues through June 28, 2009.  The exhibition includes over 60 wood, metal, fiber, and mixed-media objects from a private collection and highlights the beauty, diversity and importance of art from this West African country.    http://africanartclub.com/african-art/sleeping-leopard-african-art-cameroon

 

"The Spirit of Africa" currently on view (through February 25, 2009) at the James Lewis Museum  (Morgan State University, Annapolis MD) highlights the beauty found in tools, domestic objects, masks, religious and ceremonial statues, and other artifacts related to the ancient tribes of West Africa. This exhibition includes works culled from the Museum's own collection, which were created by unknown artists and craftsmen dating as early as the 16th century.

expo art africain sud Seine-et-Marne at Espace d'Art Contemporain International , Lorrez-le-Bocage, France. (approx 30 miles southeast of Paris).  The exhibition runs through March 9, 2009. 

"VÉNUS BEAUTÉS" at the Dapper Museum (Paris, France) runs through July 12, 2009.  This exhibition is focused on how women are depicted in the art of Africa. The exhibition comprises artifacts intended for everyday as well as ritual use, and have been created chiefly by male sculptors and ironworkers.  The manner in which women are portrayed in these objects reflects the plurality of the conditions and statuses granted to women in African society and tribal life.   More »

 

Several Interesting websites (www.african-collection.eu ,  www.african-sculpture.eu,  www.african-tribal-art.eu)  feature objects which have been field collected by fellow African Art Club member, Hartmut Brie during his 11-year stay in Africa.   It is interesting to note that those collectors having lived for several/many years in Sub-Saharan Africa have a far different appreciation of African art and its embedment in the socio-cultural context than those of others, African art dealers and collectors alike, who have not had this unique opportunity.   For example, having had the opportunity to converse with the "chef supérieur du Voudou Hounon" and accompany him to ritual ceremonies provided Mr. Brie a unique insight into the world of magic power where statues, masks and fetishes derive their power. More Hartmut Brie »

Art and Power in the Central African Savannah 2008  was the year the Menil Collection redoubled its commitment to a significant but overlooked part of its collection starting with Van Dyke's masterful re-installation of the African galleries — the first since the museum opened in 1987.  In the fall, the museum published "African Art From the Menil Collection," Van Dyke's catalog featuring 115 of its best pieces

Their catalog's release coincided with the opening of "Art and Power in the Central African Savanna," a knockout exhibition (curated by Constantine Petridis, curator of African art at the Cleveland Museum of Art ) featuring work that doesn't figure heavily in its own collection — 19th and 20th-century wood carvings of the Luba, Songye, Chokwe and Luluwa peoples. The Menil Collection (Houston TX)  was the first stop on its tour.  The exhibition then traveled to the deYoung Museum in San Francisco, (CA)  and will be on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art, (Ohio) March 1 to  May 31, 2009.  More Menil >>

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Collector's Corner:

Male Dogon Ancestor Statue, 41 cm.
I have acquired an very nice Dogon figure coming from the Michel Gaud collection: http://www.buyafricanantiques.com/dogon_statue-gaud.htm . It is an interesting piece though lacking heavy encrustation, and its obvious age can be seen in the visible cracks and checks occurring as the wood dried.  And quite typical of many Dogon objects, this sculpture has some hermaphrodite characteristics: breasts and beard. In the Dogon country it is very dry,  and they where always in need of water.  This artistic invention was to fool the gods to encourage them to make it rain.

 

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Thank you for your support, and I look forward to your joining African Art Club as Silver members.

David Norden

Tribal Art Magazine  4 issues a year.