GALERIE ART PREMIER AFRICAIN GALERIE ART PRIMITIF AFRICAIN AFRICAN ART GALLERY

The Authenticity of African Sculptures

by Henri Kamer

The issue of authenticity of African art has been central to collectors for decades.  Henri Kamer, who was president of the International Arts Experts Association at the time, published an outstanding account of the state of the matter in Artes d'Afrique Noire, No. 12 (1974).  The text  that follows is extracted from an English translation of that article, and has been edited further.  The original includes a number of illustrations.  They are not included here because I believe the text suffices without them. 

The original version, including the illustrations, in French and with the English translation, is 

Full text, digitalised by Lies Strijker and presented by the .Centre Aequatoria
Notes on the digitalisation and presentation


[Cover]

[1: empty]

[2]
IMPRIMI POTEST
Kanzenze, 12-2-1952
P. Simeon, o.m.f.
Sup. Reg.

IMPRIMATUR
Luabo-Kamina, 30-5-1952
+VICTOR PETRUS KEUPPENS
Vic. Ap. de Lulua


[3]

(Translated into English from "La Philosophie Bantoue" the French Version by Dr. A. Rubbens of Fr. Tempels' original work. The Revd. Colin King, M.A. Translator.)

With a Foreword to the English Edition by Dr Margaret Read, C.B.E.Ph. D.,M.A., formerly Professor of Education and Head of the Department Of Education in Tropical Areas, The

The Yoruba


The term Yoruba describes both a language and a tribe living between Nigeria and the Republic of Benin, in an area covered by forests and savannah. Their history can be traced from the beginning of our millennium, with the civilization of Ife. Following the collapse of the kingdom of Ife kingdom of a number such as Oyo and Ijebu emerged, they in turn disintegrated during the 18th and 19th, but were revived by the colonial powers, to the end of the 19th. Today they are still the basis of the Yoruba political structure. The slave trade touched heavily Yoruba people of Nigeria and he contributed to their diaspora and the release of their rites and beliefs.


The Yoruba are prolific craftsmen, most Yoruba art objects dating from between the late 19 th and the middle of this century, and can sometimes be attributed to known artists by their names, which is an exception in African art.


During the XVI, the Ijebu kingdom, ruled areas near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. copper imported by sailors, was traded by the Portuguese Ijebu and many bronze objects were created by their artists. These objects reflect the influence of their neighbors, the Kingdom of Benin. Nevertheless, their bells and bracelets scepters are usually decorated with figures, half human, half animal with eyes bulging and curved scars on his forehead.

The empire of Oyo between the XVII and XIX was located in the northern territories or peoples

45000 Baga, live along the coast of Guinea Bissau in villages divided into two and four districts, themselves subdivided into 5 and 6 clans. According to tradition each village is headed by the oldest members of each clan were meeting in secret. Nowadays this system has been replaced by a mayor elected from each village.

The Baga worship a single god called Kanu assisted by a male spirit, Somtup, and a female spirit-A bowl. A spirit often represented by a snake, watch over the lower ranks of society to-Lom responsible for initiation rites.

The first sculptures Baga appeared in the West during the 50s, the impact of Islamization, and the abandonment of traditional rites and beliefs, the Western traders allowed to export the masks and headdresses Baga statues. Nowadays Baga trying to restore their culture with the help of their elders, they recreate ceremonies and celebrations that punctuated their traditional life.

Masks:

The mask is the most famous Baga Nimba called, is a mask shoulder supported by four pillars, it has large breasts, a large head with semi-circular ears, a chin and a pointy nose. He appeared at weddings, births, ceremonies related to crops and more generally in the ceremonies connected with joyful events. Two styles of Nimba masks have been identified, the first best known in the West has a concave face, whereas the second has a convex face.

The crest known as: Ziringen Wonde, was worn by dancers during ceremonies marking the end of the periods of initiation of girls,

The Senufo

scattered between the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, Mali, one million five hundred thousand Senufo, live off agriculture and occasional hunting. they live in villages ruled by councils of elders, who elect a leader. cohesion of the tribe is reinforced by the Poro society initiates, and educates the Senufo men from lâge 7 years. Senufo theology based on the presence of a powerful god, Koulotiolo, and a mother goddess Katielo, which through the rites of the Poro society ruled over the world.
The Senufo art is one of the first to have been admired by Westerners, their artistic production is abundant, and their statues and masks are characterized by a mixture of realistic detail, allied to pure geometric forms. playing on the empty and full.

Masks:

the Senufo, use different types of masks, according to the occasion. mask called Kpéliyée used by members of the Poro society has a heart shaped face surrounded by fins. mask helmet représentatnt janiforme a buffalo head is used for funerals and in times of crisis. its main function is to destroy the evil spirits, his power comes from a small cup placed on top of his skull containing magical substances. sometimes for dancing sparks out of his mouth that earned him the name "fire-eater." another type of helmet mask, a buffalo head, under a pair of antelope horns, are used primarily during initiation ceremonies poro.
Senufo artists have created three types of crest, the first

AFRICA COLORS

exhibition from September 30 to December 6, 2010

This new exhibition offers a unique ethnic landscape through the theme of color in African art. Masks of War Dan masks Ibibio of Nigeria, Armand Auxiètre,

Gallery director "The eye and hand" presents a selection

representative works of customs or practices of these civilizations:

Pure and simple, the colors are chosen by the artists

to evoke in turn respect for ancestors, virility new initiates, death ... Gallery Eye and the Hand invite you to discover the symbolic

* Mask Anang, Language Arts Ibidio, Nigeria, XX, Wood and pigments.

According Fagg this hairstyle could mimic that of the wives of missionaries. This mask was probably made in the years 20/30 by famous sculptor Akpan Chukwu death in the early 50 or by one of his disciples.

Some features like the nose rounded chin bulging contours clearly defined eyes and lips that speak for attribution. Mask probably the same time and same sculptor is the Musée Barbier Muller.

Opening Thursday, September 30, 2010, from 6:30 p.m.

Art Gallery of eye and hand

41 rue de Verneuil

75007 Paris

contact@agalom.com

www.african-paris.com

AFRICA COLORS

exhibition from September 30 to December 6, 2010

This new exhibition offers a unique ethnic landscape through the theme of color in African art. Masks of War Dan masks Ibibio of Nigeria, Armand Auxiètre,

Gallery director "The eye and hand" presents a selection

representative works of customs or practices of these civilizations:

Pure and simple, the colors are chosen by the artists

to evoke in turn respect for ancestors, virility new initiates, death ... Gallery Eye and the Hand invite you to discover the symbolic

* Mask Anang, Language Arts Ibidio, Nigeria, XX, Wood and pigments.

According Fagg this hairstyle could mimic that of the wives of missionaries. This mask was probably made in the years 20/30 by famous sculptor Akpan Chukwu death in the early 50 or by one of his disciples.

Some features like the nose rounded chin bulging contours clearly defined eyes and lips that speak for attribution. Mask probably the same time and same sculptor is the Musée Barbier Muller.

Opening Thursday, September 30, 2010, from 6:30 p.m.

Art Gallery of eye and hand

41 rue de Verneuil

75007 Paris

contact@agalom.com

www.african-paris.com

Arts of Africa first Black Arts Spring 1981 No. 77
When we examine the significance of an African mask, we do not seek to know what the "message" it provides, by virtue of some essential notion of disguise and by his presence, but rather what kind of continuum it belongs. The masks are at the confluence of pictorial traditions, oral and functional none appears (under secular unable to recognize the subjects and even less discernible. The understanding of pictorial code used requires not only a review but a review of developed components as needed through the original context. Let us offer an example of the image with respect to the buffalo in the region of Zaire Kwango-Kwilu South West (1).
Synceros caffer, the largest of African cattle is a massive animal, black, cropped hair, measuring 1.50 m at the shoulder and weighing nearly a ton (900 kg.) (Fig. 1). Its heavy horns have a spacing of one meter, are curved downward and inward and form large lumps to their bases. This animal, originally occupied the central, eastern and southern Africa, frequenting the open plains, open woods and river beds and marshes bordered by reeds. Commonly preview herds of a dozen to a hundred heads, he used to graze and graze the early morning and again at dusk, seeking shade during the hottest hours but sometimes moving at night . Females do not carry a calf for about eleven months.

Considered peaceful, was injured when he can become, for hunters, the most dangerous animal of any big game on the continent (Fig. 2). He is known for his

Cabinet of curiosities
 
"Musei Wormiani Historia", the frontispiece from the Museum Wormianum depicting Ole Worm's cabinet of curiosities.A Cabinet of curiosities was an encyclopedic collection in Renaissance Europe of types of objects whose categorical boundaries were yet to be defined. Modern terminology would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings) and antiquities. "The Kunstkammer was regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world, and a memory theater. The Kunstkammer conveyed symbolically the patron's control of the world through its indoor, microscopic reproduction." Of Charles I of England's collection, Peter Thomas has succinctly stated, "The Kunstkabinett itself was a form of propaganda"[2] Besides the most famous, best documented cabinets of rulers and aristocrats, members of the merchant class and early practitioners of science in Europe, formed collections that were precursors to museums. They were also known by various names such as Cabinet of Wonder, and in German Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer (wonder-room).

 History
The term cabinet originally described a room rather than a piece of furniture. The classic style of cabinet of curiosities emerged in the sixteenth century, although more rudimentary collections had existed earlier. The Kunstkammer of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (ruled 1576-1612), housed in the Hradschin at Prague was unrivalled north of the Alps; it provided a solace and retreat for contemplation that also served to demonstrate his imperial magnificence and power in symbolic arrangement of their display, ceremoniously presented to visiting diplomats and magnates. Rudolf's uncle, Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria also had a collection, with a special emphasis on paintings of people with interesting deformities, which remains

Who are the Baule?

About three million people living mainly in central Ivory Coast are defined as Baule. Yet after a closer study it semblairaient these men identify with villages or village clusters (ranging from 4 to 12) as an ethnic group. although the Baule ethnic reality remains msytérieuse can not be denying the existence of a style Baule. artists who use this style talk Baule and abroad their art is known as Baule for over a century.

ART GALLERY EYE AND HAND

41 rue de Verneuil 75007 PARIS

December 4, 2009 EXHIBITION IN February 4, 2010

Www.african-PARIS.COM


The Bambara (or Bamana) are one of the most famous and most studied of West Africa. They occupy the whole central part of Mali is the largest ethnic group constitutes the country. Their artistic production, early discovery in France because of the introduction of French settlers in the region, is very popular with art collectors of West Africa. The diversity of this production (masks, statues, religious objects ...), due to complexity of cosmology and the system of religious thought has always fascinated the Europeans, especially the French, on their territory from the beginning twentieth century. Perpetual exchange of different groups of West African Bambara allowed to create art with many complex symbols, creating hybrid objects (such as headdresses ciwara) or embodying an aesthetic ideal (female figures jonyeleni).

The Eye Gallery and the Main has a new exhibition celebrating the diversity of Bambara art and creativity of its artists, who have shaped objects and powerful complex valued and exhibited

Exhibition "African Hairstyles"

After the monographic exhibitions devoted to ethnic Mumuye and Bambara, the gallery's eye and the hand begins 2010 with an exhibition on the theme of the often overlooked African hairstyle. Often overlooked as belonging to the sphere of the arts "popular", hair is however of particular importance in Africa, both aesthetically and symbolically.

The hairstyle can both grow its appearance but also to affirm their identity or social status. Some hairstyles are immediately identifiable, such as hairstyling splayed Mangbetu of the Democratic Republic of Congo or the hairstyles solidified ocher Namibia. Others refer to a hierarchical system more complex. Ancient art, hair is also found in modern African art production, through paintings advertising kiosks hairdressers or barbers, or in African-American fashion. Both ornaments and symbols of identity, the hairstyles worn by different ethnic groups are reflected in their art. Although they represent gods or ancestors, masks and statues are the hairstyles of the living.

In Africa the hairstyle is still practiced by family members or trusted friends. In addition to the social aspects of the event, the hair, placed in the hands of enemies, could become an ingredient in the production of dangerous charms or "medicines" that could hurt their owners. Mostly it is women cap the women and men that cap men.

As scarification, hairstyles to identify gender, ethnicity, stage reached by the person in the cycle of life, status and personal taste. Scholars,

STRENGTH AND MEASUREMENT

The discovery of "primitive art": an art of strength
Shapes and shape functions
Deities and ancestors
The living wood

Force and Measurement

Develop an aesthetic of black Africa is seen as a risky business in many ways. Is it legitimate to isolate these objects, that today we call art, the general framework of their relations and their cultural constraints? Can we submit to a test that has never existed in the minds of their creators? And can we finally see in this art - if we 'take on this term - a uniform phenomenon, despite the wide variety of both regional and local styles we offer this huge continent, following lengthy Historical developments often poorly understood? Finally, remember that this approach excludes large regions, including Africa white, that is to say the Mediterranean area with its ancient history, the eastern and southern Africa whose pastoral peoples have given rise to cultures almost without images, and finally these hunting societies, which, even in our time have not passed the stage of evolution of prehistoric rock paintings which are the main evidence of an artistic production that appears at various points the continent. Similarly, we must exclude from our contribution to the aesthetics of black African art the old feudal societies, including Benin. Our discussion is therefore limited to large areas farmers, the true cradle of

AFRICAN SCULPTURE

Introduction
Context of African sculpture
Places of traditional African sculpture
Canons of African sculpture
Techniques and creative
Aesthetic
Role of African sculpture in the middle
Universal impact of African sculpture
Bibliographic


Introduction

Never has been written about as much ink as traditional African sculpture. Ever, despite all attempts, the man has managed to evacuate his mental field, much less its history, that is to say of his encounter with the other. It has been a cornerstone to measure the "civilization" of the black man and his ability to create capacity variously appreciated throughout history until early this century, cubism helping, the unanimously begins to make the exceptional nature of African sculpture that was always confused with African art which it is a party, probably the most important, if one were to judge solely by the number Parts created that we have reached.

Context of African sculpture

We can talk about African sculpture in isolation from the rest of the arts of Africa south of Sahara. Every word in this area is responsible not only meaningless but history, and if we chose the term "African art" is to fully assume all we have inherited from the past in