Lot 54 at Van Ham in Germany auctions sold for 105,000 € in June 2009 on an a high estimate of 15,000 € Most items did not sold, but this one was a good exception.

Female Kifwebe Mask. Songye, Democratic Republic of Congo. Wood, pigments and raffia. The grooved concave face with a protruding un-pierced mouth beneath a broad nose and slit-like crescent eyes. The blackened triangular nose continuing as a band at the centre of the convex forehead, the face carved all over with curving parallel grooves painted and repainted with different colours. The original raffia costume is attached to the pierced rim of the mask. Height 44cm. Cf. Dunja Hersak: Songye Masks and Figure Sculpture. 1985.

Preise

Schätzpreis: 13.000 – 15.000 € Limitpreis:   Verkaufspreis: 105.000 € Datum: 06/2009

Complete result list:

 Barbier-Mueller at the Met

by Larry Weinberg

June 11, 2009

Let’s start with the good news: “African and Oceanic Art from the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva: A Legacy of Collecting,” running through September 27 at the Met, is a show well worth seeing. The exhibition features 36 works—all masterpieces—from one of the world’s great private art collections. Begun by Josef Mueller (1887-1974) in the 1920’s, and continued by his son-in-law Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, the collection was placed on permanent display in 1977. The works on view range across a wide swath of Africa and the South Pacific, and they brilliantly demonstrate the virtuosity and formal inventiveness of individual creative talents.

Now for the not-so-good news: from the title to the installation to the catalog photography, the exhibition raises issues, or at least fails to resolve concerns, which make it difficult to absorb the magnitude of the works presented.