It is a sad thing that this is happening, especially for the people who consult
it.  the comparative search engine for african art  http://yvra.library.yale.edu/ will be discontinued, it was a great tool to find objects and related objects on specific tribes and the related documentation.

See a sample for a Luluwa mask search, and below the fiche of the Luluwa mask sold at Sotheby’s African art  next week during the Tribal Art New York week

Luluwa mask Werner Muensterberger

The Official announcement of Yale:

NEWS OF THE ARCHIVE

ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF THE YALE-VAN RIJN ARCHIVE OF AFRICAN ART

After many years, since the Yale University Art Gallery received the Guy van
Rijn Archive of African Art in 2001, we are planning to migrate the database to
the Yale University Library Digital Collections available for cross-collection
search by the Yale community of students, faculty, staff, and others who have
access to the Yale digital system. As of August 1, 2012, the website http://yvra.library.yale.edu/
will no longer exist.

...

NYC Tribal Art Show 2012

note: John Giltsoff is not participating…just a little oversight by the editors, oops!

If in New York, please let me know if you are coming to visit me.

A few years back it was easy, there was one organization that mentioned all the events in New York.

It is a pity that there is no “central organization” anymore to tell you about all that is going on. Today there are at least 5 dealers organizations , 3 auctions houses and 3 museums “Flirting” for your attention in New York alone. Many of the events are at the same moment, and it will not be possible to be at all venues at the same time for obvious reasons. You will have to make choices.

I decided that only members of the African Art Club can see the whole list with events , private receptions and lectures. But below you can find some tasty events you certainly shouldn’t miss, and some links to follow to do your own research. You can print out this document or log in to see the whole document .

http://www.facebook.com/NewYorkTribalArt

Meet David Norden at NYC Tribal Art Show 2012 in May

I am showing my objects in New York at the following address together with 8 other Tribal and pre-Columbian dealers at :

The Bohemian National Hall (map) 321 E 73rd Street, NYC

The NYC Tribal Art Show 2012, is a one of a kind cultural event designed for collectors, dealers, curators and museum professionals to view, purchase and discuss traditional art objects from Africa, Oceania and the Americas . The NYC Tribal Art Show will take place at the Bohemian National Hall at the same time as major auctions and various gallery exhibitions around New York City.

official site: http://www.newyorktribalart.com

http://african-arts.info/tribal_art_fair_new_york_2012_preview.htm

http://www.buyafricanantiques.com/benefit-opening.htm

Regular Show Hours :  Friday 11th & Saturday 12th May – 11am-6:30pm

Sunday 13th May  11am-4:30pm

Roof Top Party:

Official NYC Tribal Art Week and After Auction Roof Terrace Party

Friday, May 11, 2012 at 4:00 PM – Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 12:00 AM (ET) New York, NY Tickets

The Newark Museum on Washington Street is set to be expanded.

Expanding Africa at the Newark Museum:
New Visions, New Galleries 

On View Through May 2013
Features exceptional works of art from the Museum’s extensive and ever-growing collection.  Bringing together contemporary and historic works in a range of different media, the exhibition seeks to broaden conventional ideas about African art while encouraging dialogue about its constantly evolving definition.

For nearly a century, the Newark Museum has been a pioneer among U.S. museums in the collecting and display of African art. Today, the Museum’s nationally known collection includes nearly 5,000 works representing artistic creativity, past and present, from throughout the continent. Tis exhibition features exceptional works of art from the Museum’s extensive and ever-growing collection. Bringing together contemporary and historic works in a range of different media, the exhibition seeks to broaden conventional ideas about African art while encouraging dialogue about its constantly evolving definition.

NEWARK — The Newark Museum is moving ahead with an expansion of its African art department that will result in new galleries for the collection, more staffing and better educational programs, but also signals a serious retrenchment for the facility.

In 2006, the Newark African Art Museum unveiled plans for a $235 million addition, called the  Signature Project (inside members section article continues, with also some images from objects in the collection a video and contact informations). However, ...

2 auctions in New York in May Sotheby’s and Bonhams, more details in members area below.

A Kota of Morris J. Pinto and the artist Armand Arman

Sale Announcement: At auction in New York African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art including Property from Muensterberger,  the Lerner, Shoher and Vogel Collections

...

In this video I discuss the projects of the Tervuren Museum and the % of shown pieces.

At the end of 2012 the Tervuren museum will close its doors for major renovation works. The expo UNCENSORED. Vivid tales from behind the scenes  is the last exhibition before the work is carried out and your final chance to visit a ‘colonial museum’.

UNCENSORED Vivid tales from behind the scenes (23 September 2011 – 8 July 2012)

I also present some object you can add to your collection.

At the next auction in New York you can buy a Bena Lulua mask estimated at 1,5 to 2,5 million dollars, but since I find this NOT SO AFFORDABLE, for the most of us I wanted to give you a chance to get some nice African art at a much lower price. Make your choice, each object african mask or african statue in the above video  is 1000 €, please contact me if interested, first to contact me get it.
Payment with credit card or paypal.
Free delivery, 15 days money back guarantee.

David Norden African Art
Sint Katelijnevest 27
B2000 Antwerpen
Belgium

http://www.buyafricanantiques.com
tel+32 3 227.35.40

Three auctions with African Art in March

...

GET FREE African Art Auction Results

Dear friends,

Some of you pay 270 € and more a year for a Tribal Index to get African Art Auction results. Members of my Club pay NADA and get also results for all other antiques, paintings, etc… ! See below an example for a search of the Bambara culture that got 270 results and a page result sample . Members can find the link to subscribe to this not well known website for free. DETAILS and URL in the member area below the screenshots. So if you did not joined yet, maybe you can do so now before you forget. It is only 10 € each month to join the African Art Club , and as you know this site is active and regularly updated, and you also get access to all the archives, and special email updates. All links below the images. Enjoy !

This website gives you access to the online Guide Mayer auction results database. Access to this database is free and unlimited. Subscription gives you free and unlimited access to the database and images (when available), classified ads,antiques valuations, etc…

To view photos of art works and objects sold, you need to subscribe to the ...

“Heroic Africans” is arriving in Zurich. Opening on February 26th, 2012

"Heroic Africans" is arriving in Zurich. Opening on February 26th 2012

• Heroic Africans 26 February to 3 June 2012

  

  «If you still think that African art is not your thing, there’s an exhibition that may change your mind. It’s called «Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures,» it is as beautiful to look at as a show can possibly be. It is a perception changer in other ways too, as it argues, through demonstration, against basic misunderstandings surrounding this art. African art has no history? No independent tradition of realism? No portraiture? All African sculpture looks basically alike, meaning «primitive»? African and Western art are fundamentally different in content and purpose? Wrong across the board.»

  - Holland Cotter, The New York Times

After my first message concerning a the “estate auction in New York“ (see link below), I received some bad comments in my email and decided to do a Rant  called I owe you an apology but I am still receiving plenty of interesting comments that you can read below. If you want to comment yourself please do so below this page. If you end comments by email, and don’t want them published let me know.

Alan let me know that many of the people from my readership mis- understood that for online buyers, we will take an offer. And if they are highest, then Alan will pack it up and have it shipped out to them. His concern for international offers is the cost of shipping could get close to the offer made on the piece.

—————————

Dear David . . . I cant believe people would complain about the presentation  It was obvious when checking the photos that it was a unique situation . …..They deserve to pay “Christies” prices  I live in new zealand where we   get pieces mainly at small auction houses from private “old family” sources though lately one of the bigger auctioneers has been importing pieces from Merton Simpson of N.Y.which is kind of interesting and way more expensive than our occaisional finds….I wish I could attend the sale over there with my flashlight and gloves ! ! Thank you for your emails and information     It is greatly appreciated    Cheers, Will Just

————————–Dear David,

I actually do agree with you in the way of finding nice pieces for small prices. Especially in France, and perhaps even more in Belgium, two countries that have a very long history in and with Africa (I shall only talk about Africa, that I know better). As you explain, it’s still possible to meet one or some authentic masks or statues between a whole lot of “junks”, for example in a flea market where so many sellers are.

Artistical productions in Africa are as rich, as various, as numerous as ethnical groups. Someone like you, real professional, can differentiate, and will recognise the good pieces, acquire beautiful authentic ones for a very low price ; but that’s not given to anybody. And that’s your job, isn’t it ?

For who love african art, or any (called) primitive, aboriginal art, and them artistical expressions, first is to learn what they mean, the ethnical groups they are issued from, tribes, and rites they express through them ; then this person will be able to recognise a very spécial piece. And, as you say dear David, no matter if it’s in a gallery, in a garage, or in a street inside a flea market.

A very few, ideally, have or have had approach this enormous knowledge of african continent and people, each différent kind of expression, rite, and art working with it. In other words, impossible, even in a life of ethnologist or anthropologist. Thinking of Jean LAUDE saying : “That is the danger of imaginary museums: they dull our ability to grasp the distinctive features of an art, they reduce all the arts of all countries and all time to a few common denominators but misleading: the sense of each of them, that is to say not only its meaning but also the set of values ??that it polarizes drowns in an undifferentiated mass, in a shimmering purely retinal effects.”

So people prefer to buy for a higher price in galleries where, they think, they will get all waranties. In a way, that’s true, and higher prices and certifications of origin will give them the assurance of having made a good acquisition. In fact, lot of pieces, coming from collections (even the most famous, remember : of course you know some examples), or sold in auctions, should never have been assessed at those prices. In fact, what’s important for a piece get a better value ? Its history. Who brought it from Africa, to which collector she belonged, and so on… So, sometimes, sellers build an history to a piece for get the value they hope deal it. Introducing an unknown piece in the sale between différent others famous, or coming from famous collections. It gives it an history, a repectability.

I mean, all this is business, business of art ; time changes, interest for an artist, or for a kind of art, changes also ; like fashion. There’s a time when everything, and no matter what it is, can be sold. And a time where people get mistrustfull, even suspicious ; and then, only very special pieces may stay on the artmarket.

To all those who just want to acquire some because it’s in the air of time, come in the most famous galleries ; most of them will be delighted to welcome you. One thing people would never forget, the first value of an artistical work is the affective interest you will give to it.

Sincerely your,-

Thierry Carton

Dear David - - I do want to thank you for sending out the email blast
for the NY estate.  I immediately saw the same “junk” as everyone else
did – the state of the place – etc.  It would automaticallyturn-off a
lot of people, who, as you well know already (as stated in your
followup) that most people are not real hunters.  They are after all
the typical majority - so one should  not be too surprised when you get
this vocal stream of comments against it.

What they should probably not be called is SNOBS either.  I do not
think most reactions have anything to do with snobbery, but they were
simply being outspoken and honest about what they saw from the photos –
they were probably wondering – why on earth is David sending us this?
I thought he had a better eye, etc...

On the other hand - I did, and I am sure there are others, who
appreciated that you put this sale out there, knowing its potential, so
there was no need for us to respond.  I knew, when I saw the kachina
dolls, that probably there were things hidden within the trove that
could be discovered.  I was not appalled, but intrigued (especially
since I am in the area), and knew whoever took the challenge would
probably find something there.  So please do not stop letting us know
about these things.

If I might be sold bold (I can’t help it – I am a New Yorker) - - what
I might suggest – as you probably now already know – would be, in the
future, to be certain to preface a sale like this – with statements
that challenge those you are trying to reach & immediately let others
know the score – such as  “Beware - this estate sale is not for the
timid – to find the diamond in the rough – you have to search out
amongst the multitudes, this requires patience, and expect to get a
little dirty”  - This way you have covered yourself and your own
reputation.

I will make one other suggestion – and that would have been not to show
these comments to the seller - - he was deeply hurt as was evident by
his comments and lashing out calling them “snobs” –of course he would
not be able to handle these very direct and brutal comments – he loved
his father and would take this personally.  My guess is that these
people wrote these comments had intended them for you, and not written
them for the seller to read, or they would have thought twice about HOW
they said things.  You could have easily handled it in the way that you
have now – by letting people know your own travails in finding the
diamonds, given all a proper tongue-lashing, and then the seller would
have not needed to get involved and hurt.  Whoever shows up, shows up
after all.

At any rate, David – You are obviously a good, and kind-hearted person
amongst this crazy world that is tribal art fanatics.  Thank you for
everything you do, it IS appreciated.  Best, Mary Krueger

CARMONA DESIGN
25O FIFTH AVENUE . SUITE 5O3
NEW YORK CITY   1OOO1
STUDIO  212.414.84OO
MOBILE  917.7O1.67O9

I owe you an Apology

Dear friends,

After my email of yesterday about the “estate auction in New York“ (see link below),
http://africanartclub.com/african-art/estate-auction-new-york/

I received tens of emails from people “Shocked” by the “quality”
of the pieces, and probably by the “presentation” as well.

I “promoted” this estate because I know from experience, this is the kind of place where you can discover very good pieces amongst the so called “Junk”.
Below is a response of the son of the owner on the negative reactions I forwarded to him :

Wow. Very hurtful comments. I wonder what it must feel like to be a snob.

My father was an old man and did not have any money later in life.
Thirty years ago he bankrupted himself trying to save my mother from cancer.
His house got run down and dirty; sorry.

But an authentic item is the same item whether it is in my dad’s dirty,
old, run down home, or a fancy gallery with marble floors in the ritzy part
of town!

It’s just a better deal in my dad’s old home.

His collection at home was only meant to please him.
Some of his stuff might be considered “junk”, but other items are the
real thing.
Many years ago he owned two well known and unusual stores in New
York on the upper east side (“Far-N-Wide” and the “Underground
Jeweler)” which carried items from around the world. Some of it was “junk”,
some of it was not.

He even went to Africa in the 50′s and 60′s to develop contacts there.

HIS REPUTATION FOR HONESTY AND INTEGRITY WAS SECOND TO NONE.

The sextant in the picture is from 1927 and is authentic.

The dolls are real and not junk.  I had an uncle who
spent years trying to buy those from him but dad would not sell.

There are items he picked up in World War 2  which are quite valuable.
No one is representing this is a priceless collection.
But it is not junk. It is my father’s life.

And he has some real gems mixed in with the “junk”.

-Alan, a proud son

But this is not what the “Elite” want to hear and see. They want
dealers to keep “silent”. They want dealers to do the dirty work of
selecting among objects and or “runners” they meet.

They want it put on a new stand, and the necessary restorations
completed.

And they want them to add a provenance story before reselling it
for thousands more.

But I guess I was too enthusiastic on this, since you need a trained
eye and much patience while looking among thousands of objects
to find that one nice piece.

It is possible to find treasures among this, but sure, it is not fun
to go there with a flash light and gloves.

Certainly not if you are used to “champagne” receptions in
nice buildings (like the one I will participate in this may )

http://africanartclub.com/african-art/nyc-tribal-art-week/

Garage sales and tag auctions should remain something for
experienced dealers I guess. I remember a dealer in Paris, Mr. Laprugne
from the rue Mazarine, who every week went to the flea market at 5 a.m.
and often discovered ”bembe’s” and other fine pieces he got at
less than a few hundred.

The best ones he kept for himself. At the end of his life ,many of his
objects bought at the “flea market” ended up at Christies.
You can read a transcript of an interview done between Renaud Vanuxem and Jean-Pierre Laprugne ( the article was published in Art Tribal N°04, Winter 2003 ) on Rand’s site at

http://www.randafricanart.com/Jean_Pierre_Laprugne.html

The fact that you can find very high quality pieces in uncommon places,
and that from time to time make the deal of your life,
is also proved by the story below from a dealer who bought a work
from Sargent Johnson for just $165.00!
Also deacquisitioned objects can be top quality and sold by
mistake, like UC Berkeley who accidentally sold a misplaced artwork valued at over
$1 million for only $165

read the story and see the object at

http://www.dailycal.org/2012/02/21/uc-berkeley-accidentally-sells-misplaced-artwork-valued-at-over-1-million-for-less-than-200/

and also

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/amazing-incompetence-artwork-valued-at-1-million-accidentally-sold-for-less-than-200/

or Listen to the story at

http://soundcloud.com/dailycal/famous-art-of-berkeley-with

I myself was able to buy this morning one fine moghul XIXth silver object and one gold and silver broche from India with genuine rubies at a flea market in Antwerp for only 125 €.

Keep searching, and don’t be upset if I remind you there is often gold among the dust.

Hope you liked this edition,

David Norden

10th – 13th May Bohemian National Hall 321 E 73rd St. New York, NY 10021 (3 blocks from Sotheby’s) During the 3rd Annual NYC Tribal Art Week™ For more info visit www.newyorktribalart.com or call 212-873-1937

Opening VIP Preview: Thursday 10th May 3-9pm

NYC Tribal Art Week™ ROOFTOP PARTY:
Friday 11th May – Open from 4pm- Midnight  income *$20 Per Person

Regular Show Hours :
Friday 11th & Saturday 12th May    11am-6:30pm  & Sunday 13th May from  11am-4:30pm

Parking:Directly across the streetSubway: Closest station, 6 train – 68th Street Hunter College

Traditional arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas take center stage in New York City during 3rd Annual NYC Tribal Art Week™

We would like to invite you to join us at the 3rd Annual New York Tribal Art Week™ in the 2012 NYC Tribal Art Show which is already shaping up to be an extraordinary art fair event. This is the premier event during this year’s 3rd Annual NYC Tribal Art Week™.

The NYC Tribal Art Show 2012, is a one of a kind cultural event designed for collectors, dealers, curators and museum professionals to view, purchase and discuss traditional art objects from Africa, Oceania and the Americas (AOA). The NYC Tribal Art Show will take place at the Bohemian National Hall at the same time as major auctions at Sotheby’s and Bonhams (May 11,2012 ) as well as various AOA gallery exhibitions around New York City.

Historically, New Yorkers have been among the foremost collectors of AOA tribal art. New York politicians, artists, business leaders, professionals, fashion moguls and celebrities such as Helena Rubinstein, Nelson Rockefeller, Andy Warhol, John Friede, Armand Arman and Robert Mapplethorpe have solidified the international tribal art market rumored to now only exist in Paris.

The goal of the NYC Tribal Art Show during New York Tribal Art Week™ is to bring together those who share a common interest in the arts and to inspire a greater public knowledge of the cultural importance and artistic significance of non-western art forms. Local and visiting collectors and aficionados, as well as anyone interested in tribal art or simply wanting to learn about this fascinating art form are invited to attend and help bring back the excitement of AOA tribal art to it’s original home in New York City

The 3rd Annual
NYC Tribal Art Week™

found at artfixdaily.com

A wealth of gallery exhibitions, auctions, and events focused on tribal art will take place from May 7 – 13, 2012 in New York City. A consortium of leading specialists will offer traditional African, Asian, Oceanic, and Native American works of art of the highest quality, including rare masterpieces as well as more affordable items.

New York Tribal Art Week™ was created in 2010 by David A. Cassera who said, “last year the excitement of the Sotheby’s auction had everyone enthralled, there was a great atmosphere in New York. I had a vision two years ago when I created the Madison Avenue Promenade (now AOA NY). After Caskey Lees canceled their annual Armory show I only had a month to create a website, map and booklet for the events. Somehow I pulled it off amidst a firestorm of negativity. Now in it’s third year I am following the blueprints of New York’s Asia Week. We are pleased with the progress we have made over the last few years bringing the excitement of Tribal Art back to the City where it all began. My philosophy, which differs from others, is to have fun and celebrate the beauty of the arts without all of the drama.”

Participating NYC Tribal Art Week Galleries Include;
Throckmorton Fine Art, Arte Primitivo – Howard S. Rose Gallery, Hemingway African Gallery, Turner Gallery, Reynold C. Kerr African Art, Cassera Arts Premiers, Tabwa Gallery, Alan Steele, David Zemanek, Howard Nowes, Chris Boylan, Fernandez Leventhal, Dave DeRoche, Cavin Morris Gallery, David Norden African Art Antiques, Mark Eglinton Tribal Art,  Jacaranda Tribal, Patrick and Ondine Mestdagh, Gallerie J. Visser, Gallerie Flak, Neil Becker, Gail Martin Gallery, Claudia and John Menser, Earl Duncan, Michael Rhodes African Art, Bernard Dulon, John Giltsoff, Young Robertson African Art, Amyas Naegele Fine Art, James Stephenson African Art, Fily Keita African Art, Pace Primitive, Alaska on Madison, Nasser & Co.,  and more.

NYC Tribal Art Show – A New Addition to NYC Tribal Art Week:

The NYC Tribal Art Show 2012, is a one of a kind cultural event designed for collectors, dealers, curators and museum professionals to view, purchase and discuss traditional art objects from Africa, Oceania and the Americas (AOA). The NYC Tribal Art Show will take place at the Bohemian National Hall at the same time as major auctions at Sotheby’s and Bonhams, as well as various AOA gallery exhibitions around New York City.

Historically, New Yorkers have been among the foremost collectors of AOA tribal art. New York politicians, artists, business leaders, professionals, fashion moguls and celebrities such as Helena Rubinstein, Nelson Rockefeller, Andy Warhol, John Friede, Armand Arman and Robert Mapplethorpe have solidified the international tribal art market rumored to now only exist in Paris.

Unlike the exhibitions taking place in New York, the NYC Tribal Art Show is focused more on the art and less on the dealer. Therefore a list of participating dealers is not published until the opening. The goal of the NYC Tribal Art Show during New York Tribal Art Week™ is to bring together those who share a common interest in the arts and to inspire a greater public knowledge of the cultural importance and artistic significance of non-western art forms. Local and visiting collectors and aficionados, as well as anyone interested in tribal art or simply wanting to learn about this fascinating art form are invited to attend and help bring back the excitement of AOA tribal art to it’s original home in New York City!

Visit www.newyorktribalart.com

The Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73rd St  New York, NY 10021
(3 blocks from Sotheby’s)

Opening VIP Preview: Thursday 10th May 3-9pm

Regular Show Hours : Friday 11th & Saturday 12th May 11am-6:30pm Sunday 13th May from 11am-4:30pm

Food & Drink:
HOSPODA – located at the Bohemian National Hall serves Central European specialties from Bohemia, Austria and Bavaria

Parking: Directly across the street

Subway: Closest station, 6 train – 68th Street Hunter College

The Official NYC Tribal Art Week™ Party:

We will also be giving a VIP evening party after the auction on friday at the BNH Roof top terrace

Friday 11th May - Open from 4pm- Midnight
*$20 Per Person

The Bohemian National Hall
Rooftop Terrace
321 E 73rd St  New York, NY 10021
(3 blocks from Sotheby’s)

AFTER AUCTION ROOFTOP TERRACE BAR & LOUNGE Friday 11th May Open 4pm- Midnight *$20 Per Person Given our venue’s close proximity to Sotheby’s it is the perfect place to visit after the auction to enjoy our exhibition and head to the terrace for some music, libations, snacks and good conversation. Join us upstairs from 4pm to midnight and enjoy the rooftop terrace for some afternoon sun or an evening under the stars. What Else? The numerous events and programming will bring together exhibitors, art collectors, and art enthusiasts who appreciate tribal art pieces which have created the foundation for the contemporary art. We have scheduled times for private viewings for sponsors and coordinated with numerous local partners, art media outlets, and have invited a superb exhibitor lineup of galleries. The 2012 NYC Tribal Art Show is going to be a one of kind tribal art event unlike any other. To learn more visit NEWYORKTRIBALART.COM or call +1.212.873.1937.

Hartmut Brie. An African Art collection… Field collected.

By Hartmut Brie, African Art Club Member since Saturday January 17, 2008

It goes without saying that those collectors having stayed for years in Black Africa, have a completely different approach to African Art and its embedment in the socio-cultural context from those of African art dealers.

Penetrating the sacred wood in Ouidah,conversing with the “chef supérieur du Voudou Hounon” and accompanying him to his ceremonies allows you to have an insight into a world of  magic power which statues, masks and fetishes derive their reason of being from.

Filming Alapini family`s rare procession(Engun-Gu)of family members crossing the border from Nigeria(Oyo) where the origin of the family is supposed to be, and sharing the meal with them conveys a familiarization and  intimacy with socio-religious cults.

Eventually having the Kuba King as guest in your house in Kinshasa with members of his court, is an event that enables you to get information from the very source.

Last not least going with students to their home villages in the bush to live everyday life and talk to healers, ”féticheurs” and the council of elders and their sculptors of religious objects makes you feel at ease in Africa and leads you to wondering why dealers and curators present their African treasures in a eurocentric way not taking into account the fibres, gestures ,costumes, sounds and sacrificing being inherent to African Art.

During my 11 years´ stay in Africa as Lecturer and Literacy Campaign Expert I collected some objects and met over there African Art experts such as Frère Cornet in Kinshasa…

My websites may convey a first impression of my collection preferences:

www.african-collection.eu

www.african-sculpture.eu

www.african-tribal-art.eu

Regards.

Dr.Hartmut Brie

Regards.

Dr.Hartmut Brie

It might be a strange feeling for a painting collctor to hear that “The Card Players” by Cezanne sold for more than 190 million as it is for an African Art collector a strange feeling to hear that a simple  Songye axe valued at 3,000 € sold for 384,000 € just because it has a signature of Leo Frobenius who wrote a few books and articles on African Art in the early  XXth century

Leo Frobenius on African History, Ar…

Leo Frobenius

But if I tell you both pieces where sold to the royal family of Qatar, in preparation of the new museum by architect Jean Nouvel and inspired by the desert sand roses to grows organically around the former palace, will probably changes your view about the meaning of this event.

national museum of Qatar

The new museum is scheduled to open in December 2014 and they want to become a touristic attraction containing Masterworks from around the World.

You may not want to think on all the African Art objects you could have bought with the fortune that the Al Thani family spentnot only on a simple Songye axe but also to the other African Art master pieces they bought the last two years  including many for a few million euros, and many of you might find it outrageous thinking on the price they spended for a single painted canvas, depicting two simple laborers in a French cafe playing cards while enjoying a pipe and a glass of wine. You could have bought several collections of African Art together with the houses containing these objects.

The art market since the eighties, more and more become a playground for the super rich collectors from around the world, and I am not surprised anymore when I see African Art auction with more than 25 objects above 100,000 € and 4 or five above 1 million. At the Sotheby’s and Christie’s receptions you don’t see only the usual collectors of the eighties and nineties but also American “hedge funds” wonder boys,  japanese industrials, Arab oil sheiks, and new rich from Russia, China and India, who found all the way to the major auction houses and expensive galleries like those of Larry Gagosian, who have branches from Rome to Hong Kong, Pace Gallery, etc… The fabulous prizes that were once only for old masters, impressionists or the great modernists are also paid today for African Art and even for contemporary pop artists such as Damien Hirst .

The art area flourishes, when you see the results of the auction houses for 2011. Both Christie’s and Sotheby’s reported a sales increase of 14 percent. The African Art auctions of Christie’s increased 400% and for the whole art area they where the leaders last year with 4.3 billion of art and antiques sold. While in many countries the impact of the economic crisis is felt and leads to painful savings, the art market produced a million dance as if the sky is the limit.

Is African Art Trophy Hunting ?

Of course there is a wide gap between the top of the market and the daily practice of the tribal art collectors market where people like me and you try to find some genuine objects, masks and statues between 1,000€ and 10,000€ . But even the main street art and antiques market seems to pass these times of crisis rather well. Antique dealers and gallery owners have to deal with customers who lost their trust in money and the stock market and seek refuge in art. Not only are these tangible objects that will always retain some value, but they also give us a lot of pleasure. Investors who wants to diversify their portfolio, consider the better art pieces as a relatively safe alternative.

For the emir of Qatar and his family, who in recent years, spend phenomenal amounts to buy art, there are other motives. Just like in Abu Dhabi, Qatar wants to a destination for cultural tourists, in prevision of the day the source of oil has dried up. Abu Dhabi hopes to open in the following years a branch of the Louvre and a Guggenheim Museum . And Qatar spared no expense to make from the Museum of Modern Art in Doha a top collection.

So did the Al Thani family to get their hands on pieces like the Master of Buli or paintings by Francis Bacon and Roy Lichtenstein. It started five years ago, when they bought the painting of Mark Rothko White Center for $ 72 million  in New York, and it turned out that the piece was moved to Qatar. It caught the imagination of collectors, because all those years it hung in the office of banker David Rockefeller . Rockefeller himself got the painting in 1960 and paid it only $8,500.

The fact that news people focus on record prices in the art market, not only has to do with he fact that people are in a quest for safe investments, but also because of the hunger for status symbols among buyers.

For people who possess all material wealth has to offer, art becomes the ultimate proof of good taste. A painting with a famous signature is like a trophy on the walls of their villas.

But the main reason for the record prices at the top of the art market is purely economic. Paintings by major artists or African Art objects proven early XXth century with dcumentation are becoming more expensive because they have become extremely scarce. Most of that work is stuck in museum collections where they never come out. From the recently sold “The Card Players” by Cezanne only four other copies are know such as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris or the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. To give their own museum World class assets the Qataris had no other choice than to count down a colossal amount  – almost double the previous record price. It was a chance they could not let pass.

When one sees how deep the Arabic, Russian, Chinese and even some Greek buyers today have in their purse to attack, one can only be grateful for the amazing collections in our museums. Those institutions have not always easy at a time when the government saves on culture. But record prices for Cézanne’s Fang masks etc.. as an incitement to public ownership is not as cost but as a luxury to consider.

But don’t let these record prices fool you, there still are genuine and affordable objects on the market

Click here to Find Fine African Art Antiques for your collection

This article was inspired , translated and enhanced on the following article at destandaard.be from Jan Van Hove, 07 februari 2012

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