NEUBERGER MUSEUM OF ART FIG. 25 (above): Granary shutter. Dogon, Mali. 19th–20th century. Wood. H: 79.4 cm. Ex J. J. Klejman, New York, 1967; Helen W. Benjamin, New York; Denyse and Marc Ginzberg. Collection of the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, inv. EL 03.2005.01. Gift of Denyse and Marc Ginzberg. Reproduced with the kind permission of Sotheby’s, Inc. 105 FIG. 23 (below): Female figure, lu me. Dan, Liberia. 20th century. Wood, fiber, metal. H: 64.8 cm. Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, inv. 1999.06.05. Gift of Lawrence Gussman in memory of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Photo: Jim Frank. FIG. 24 (above): Fragmentary figure, pombia (child of Poro). Senufo. Côte d’Ivoire. 19th–20th century. Wood (Khaya senegalensis). H: 80 cm. Ex Alfred Muller, before 1975; I. Zango, New York, 1980; Denyse and Marc Ginzberg, 1980–2007. Collection of the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, inv. EL 15.2007.01. Gift of Denyse and Marc Ginzberg. Photo: Jim Frank. abstraction and vertical elongations, both the Senufo figure and the Dogon shutter embody formal characteristics typical of the art of the western Sudan. The dense, eroded surfaces resulting from their exposure to nature and the elements give both an “archaic” look.28 To begin to address the importance and role of textiles in African culture, two textiles, differing in scale, media, and function, have been acquired for the collection: a Yoruba egungun masquerade costume (fig. 28) and an Mbuti bark cloth (fig. 27). Made of many layers of various dazzling fabrics and applied glass beads and mirrors, the voluminous egungun costume is revered both for its symbolism and as a sign of wealth. The small bark cloth adorned with abstract patterning applied with a black organic pigment was primarily used as a loincloth by the Mbuti peoples. Not only is this bark cloth the second textile to enter the collection, but it is of particular historical significance; it is known to predate the late 1980s, when many such bark cloths were made solely for export, since it was acquired before the 1970s by Marc Felix from Charles Henault, a researcher at the Institut des musées nationaux du Congo.29 The most recent acquisition, made in memory of Marc Ginzberg, is a powerful and finely executed Yoruba ceremonial axe (fig. 26). It complements several major Yoruba sculptures in the NMA collection yet distinguishes itself by its rarity. Among only three known examples, such axes are all the rarer because they were symbols of office and status for chiefs and warriors who could afford them.30 This ceremonial axe is known as aringa and is devoted to the second-most important orisha (deity) in the Yoruba pantheon, Ogun, god of iron and war. It complements another ritual object in the Neuberger collection, a Yoruba dance staff or wand which illustrates the power of Shango, the other major orisha in the Yoruba pantheon. These two ritual objects embody different iconographies on different scales, as well as two different Yoruba styles, one from northeastern and one from southwestern Yorubaland. In 2007, eighty-two of the finest objects in the collection of African art were reinstalled in two newly designed galleries of 2,500 sq. ft. This greatly expanded space devoted to the African collection more than doubled the number of objects previously on view. The present design, conceived by consulting designer Ray Ring, gives each object its own viewing space and allows it to be seen in relation to other objects and to cultural themes within a broadly geographic approach. At the same time, it challenges the stasis that so often be
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