Man Ray African Art and the Modernist Lens

Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens ~ Wendy A. Grossman

Washington October 10, 2009-January 10, 2010

Man Ray, Simone Kahn (with Vanuatu male figure, eastern Malekula), c.1927. © 2009 Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris

Man Ray translated the 20th-century modernist taste for African art into photographs that reached a popular audience. About 60 of his photographs, many never before exhibited, along with more than 40 photographs by his contemporaries, including Cecil Beaton, Walker Evans, and Alfred Stieglitz, will appear side-by-side with 20 of the African objects featured in the images. The exhibition explores the pivotal role of these photographs in shaping the perception of non-Western objects as fine art. Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens is organized by International Arts and Artists.

A fine Songye from Alain Naoum collection

Interview with Alain Naoum  April 28, 2009, part one.

David  Norden:    First let me ask what interested you initially in African Art, and how did you start dealing in the area.- Can you tell us what tribes and type of objects you sold best in the past? Do you see some actual trends?

Alain Naoum:  Since I was a child I have been always interested by the history of mankind, like most children I imagine. Questions about where we came from, what was early man and life like, etc. always held my interest.  I also really enjoyed reading the comics of “Tintin” – “Les Septs Boules de Crystal,”  “Les Cigares du Pharaon,” etc. ...

For years I have been using the “Who’s Who in African Art”, searching names and data of collectors and dealers.

Today, the “Who is Who in African Art” is available for free online on a website called Danster Research. This project is coordinated by Bruno Claessens.

The nice thing is that since it is online, the search results are instant.
You even get entries results that are phonetically close to your search, and images from the people when available.

To make Danster Project better they have a special, but interesting request:
We would like to receive photos from people who are listed in the “Who is Who in African Art”,
although there are circa 16.000 names listed, we only have ca 1.200 photos of people or galleries.

If you are interested in “the past”: provenances, data, photos etc. please contribute to these files.

1) Check the names in the Who’s Who at:
http://www.danster-research.com

2) So if you have pictures or information’s from people that are in the Who’s Who please send them to:

mailto:bruno.claessens@gmail.com?subject=(Who-is-Who)&cc=david@african-antiques.com

GIVEAWAY: Find something useful for us and you get access to a very special website(s). The first 100 people who will find 5 or more missing images, will get 6 months free in the African Art Club.

We also have a few freebies we’ll send those of you who give there address and give us interesting informations and images.

David Norden, http://www.africanartclub.com
Bruno Claessens,project coordinator at http://www.danster-research.com

in the members area some examples with the images and extra informations we found about Jan Krugier the wellknow Swiss painting dealer who died recently and had also African Art, Jacob K. Olupona, and Ivan De Pierpont and how you can  also find them and the tools I use to digg for answers, and even how to find all images related on African Art that where published in Life Magazine  : ...