African Art Club

“We no longer do the same job” was the comment from a dealer speaking about the African art sales that took place in Paris- the capital market for tribal arts- days after the auctions from Christie’s, December 13,2011 and the one at Sotheby’s on the 14th.  Why did he say this? Well Because of the already high estimates for the main lots went up to 3 times for the end results.

The two objects in the above video are not at auction, but in David Norden‘s collection at this moment.

The article below was inspired translated and enhanced from an article first published in Le Monde l’art africain flambe

At Christie’s on the 13th december 2011, a fine Punu mask from Gabon, white face with twisted hair and horns, sold for 229 000 euros, as much a Bamana statue (from Mali), with sharp angular carving and quite expressive.

Between 200,000 and 250,000 euros for a Kwele mask (Gabon -sold 216,750 €), 200 000 300 000 for a Boa Mask (DRC sold same price as previous) – that the catalog rather quickly compared to a painting Picasso of 1907 – or between 350 000 and 450 000 for a Punu dated from the late eighteenth century and that was showed in 2005 at the Grimaldi forum in Monaco and published in the book Arts of Africa : 7000 Years of African Artbecame the most expensive piece in this auction selling for 1,016,750 EUR.

Arts of Africa

Ezio Bassani

The stories and provenances of all these works are quite similar. Collected for the earliest in the late nineteenth century and for the latest in the 1970′s, they all have been held in private collections for the last 40 years. Hence these estimates, but well above the price that dealers would ask for the same objects if held in their galleries.

The explanation is not convincing, because the items paths, sold by merchants in Paris, Brussels or New York is quite comparable. I’s already a long time over nothing important comes straight out from Africa, the continent having been explored in all directions, even in its most remote regions since the early 20′s.

The difference is due to two reasons. The first is related to the higher media profile from auction houses and the kindly advertising competition engaged between Christie’s and Sotheby’s with potential bidders – this phenomenon is similar as seen in the field of contemporary art. The second that it is certainly more spectacular to place bids in a room full of millionaires than make an acquisition in a closed gallery. This is the case of a Punu or Fang as it is for a prestigious Richard Prince or Jeff Koons.

A fabulous Elegance

The parallel does not end there. The so called “primitive” arts market now also attracts collectors of contemporary art, used to pay significantly higher amounts . They are not specialists in Africa and Oceania, but acquire a few emblematic “tribal” pieces for the social prestige and the name of the link between this art and the twentieth-century discovery of the “Negroes”. In doing so, unwittingly perhaps, they confound and discourage older collectors, more competent on the knowledge side, but unable to “follow” beyond a certain price threshold.

But even in that area people become crazy, look eg. what a simple axe (without head) sold for a Sotheby’s only because it was written Frobenius under the axe, that was estimated 4,000 to 7,000 EUR and finally sold for 384 750 € costs included . No way I could have sold this above 10,000 € in my gallery :

TThe reason of the high price is found under the Axe :

Strange when you know a same quality Songye axe (lot 48) in the same auction sold for 3125 €, but without the white signature ! Someone paid 381.625 € for this Signature. Could it be someone in Quatar ?

Forced to abandon “classic”collecting areas, these scholarly interested amateurs shift today there interest to previously ignored sources like Southeast Asian, Himalayan, Indian tribal areas, etc… Or when they collect Africa and Oceania, to utilitarian objects like weapons, hooks, headdle pulleys, neckrests or cups, that are often of a fabulous elegance.

Christie’s therefore proposed, on December 13, just before his big evening sale, a fine collection of “curiosities from the collection Daniel Blau.” Which happens to be the son of the painter Georg Baselitz, himself an excellent connaisseur of African sculptures. The complete collection brought a measly

• Sale Total: 283,750 (Euros)

In the members section below you’ll find the links to the complete auction results and some screen shots of the most expensive pieces  : If you are not yet a member please join the African Art Club , before I raise the price. ...

sothebys exhibition reminder ...

Luba Caryatid Stool Achieves Record for a Work of African Art at Sotheby’s: $7.1 Million

A Masterpiece of African Art , Luba female caryatid stool by the “Master of the Buli”, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Height 51 cm ; diam. 30,5 cm (20 in, 20 in). Collected by Harry Bombeeck between 1896 and 1899. Brought back to Belgium in 1899. Sold for 5,440,750 €. Photo: Sotheby’s.

PARIS.- A packed saleroom at the Galerie Charpentier for the sale of African & Oceanic Art witnessed fierce competition between collectors (mainly from Europe or America) present at the auction or bidding by telephone. The sale ultimately brought nearly €12m, one of the highest ever totals in the field.

‘What joy for this century to have brought to light the splendours of Ancient African sculpture, whose reign has only just begun’ wrote Paul Guillaume in 1920, in the third issue of Action: Cahier de Philosophie et d’Art. Guillaume was one of the first to anticipate the tremendous upsurge in interest for the arts of Africa and Oceania in the 20th century, and the recognition their masterpieces would enjoy today, now considered as among the world’s greatest historic art treasures.

The sale’s top price will remain in the annals of the history of the African Art market:

€5.4m ($7.1m) for the Luba caryatid stool of the Master of the Buli. The staggering price for this caryatid stool reflects the tremendous esteem in which the the greatest African artists are held, with the Master of the Buli one of the chief among them. The last time a work by the Master appeared at auction was at Sotheby’s London in 1979; it was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for for, 240,000 £, an international record for a work of African art at the time.

The stool sold in Paris was acquired by Harry Bombeeck in 1896, and brought back to Belgium in 1899. It is considered one of the most towering achievements of the Master of the Buli, due to its exquisite proportions and carving, especially to the majestic head, and by the care lavished on the details of the forward-leaning torso; the inclined, open palms; the four fingers posed delicately on the seat; and the outspread thumb touching the hair. It is probably the finest stool from the Master’s entire known body of work.

The sale opened with a New York Collection that totalled €3.3m ($4.3m), to be 81.6% sold by lot and 92% by value. The sale of this ensemble in Paris concluded a century-old story uniting a handful of men on either side of the Atlantic, for whom securing recognition for African Art was a lifelong goal.

Among the masterpieces in the collection was the Fang head which Paul Guillaume lent to the MoMA for the exhibition of African Negro Art in 1935. The Paul Guillaume Fang Head duly posted the collection’s highest price of €912,750 ($1.2m).

Next, on €198,750 ($$260.800), came a rare, powerful, 11th/12th century Dogon Djennenke torso from Mali – one of a small group of archaic ancestor figures with ‘arms raised in communion with the supreme being’ (Hélène Leloup, 1994).

The 40-lot Lionel Sergent Collection yielded €819,675 ($10.6m) to be 81.6% sold by volume and 94.9% by value – a fitting tribute to the eye of this passionate enthusiast for the art and culture of the peoples he encountered on a daily basis during his 28 years in West Africa. Collectors were especially quick to assess the importance of his Senufo figure from Mali, which almost trebled its high estimate on €294,750 ($386.800).

In the members area you can find pdf files with more details about buyers at this auction , the top prices list, and a video about the master of Buli ...