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African Art in Canada Ladislas Segy.4 Even after Morgan’s passing, non- European art continued to hold its ground at the MBAM, as demonstrated by its hosting the traveling exhibition Art of the Congo, produced in 1969 by the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis. During this only Canadian stop for the exhibition, visitors had the opportunity to admire works from the great collection of the Musée Royal d’Afrique Centrale in Tervuren, Belgium. Concurrently, an exhibition with the self-explanatory title L’Art Africain dans les Collections de Montréal was on view in adjoining galleries. Objects were loaned to the museum for it by two of the best-known private galleries of the time in Montreal, the Petit Musée and Galerie Lippel. Other temporary exhibitions were to follow elsewhere in Canada, including Hidden Treasures from Central Africa at the ROM in 1973. The early 1970s was also when Jacqueline Delange-Fry (1923–1991) relocated from Paris to Montreal. An ethnologist and former curator at the Musée de l’Homme, her work would be important in the dissemination of African art throughout the Canadian provinces rather than just in the major centers of Toronto and Montreal. Two of the many initiatives in which she participated were African Sculpture at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (Manitoba, 1972–1973) and Masques sans Mascarades at the Dalhousie Gallery (Nova Scotia, 1974). Both exhibitions benefited significantly from loans from the impressive private collection of Justin and Elisabeth Lang, who will be mentioned again later in this article. Delange’s most prestigious exhibition was without doubt Vingt-cinq Sculptures Africaines (Twenty-Five African Sculptures), which she created in 1978 for the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. This major exhibition—the importance of which unfortunately was little felt in the Old World—brought together African artworks from all over the country, offering a Canadian national vision of African art, the main characteristic of which proved to be eclecticism.5 The exhibition was made possible by the generosity of private lenders such as Barbara and Murray Frum, Léon and Louise Lippel, and Daniel and Nancy Mato, as well as by loans from institutions including the National Museum of Man and the ROM. In accordance with the lenders’ wishes, a catalog was also published with articles by internationally recognized authorities including Louis Perrois, Keith Nicklin, Germaine Dieterlen, Dominique Zahan, Robert Farris Thompson, Francine N’Diaye, and Arnold Rubin. Also in 1978, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) approached Barbara and Murray Frum, inviting them to present highlights from their collection of African art there. The Frums sought the assistance of an old acquaintance, 105 SEEING THE OBJECTS: AFRICAN ART EXHIBITIONS AND THE UNVEILING OF NEW AESTHETIC SENSIBILITIES The mentality of the early twentieth century dictated that African objects were seen, even in the best of cases, as little more than trophies or “curios,” but this notion would be radically put to the test by Frederick Cleveland Morgan, the director of the decorative arts department at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (MBAM). Morgan was from a wellrespected local family that owned a prestigious department store in downtown Montreal. Following the example of other competing businesses in the city, the store had an art gallery in which aficionados could find antiquities and so-called “exotic” objects. Exposure to these was one factor that set the young Morgan on a path of learning that he would follow for his entire life. Until his death in 1962, this inspired man and his cosmopolitan vision worked to transform the MBAM into a museum that would rank among the best-known institutions of the Western world, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In order to do this, Morgan established close contacts with the best London and New York dealers, including the well-known John J. Klejman. The passion this curator for “decorative arts” at the MBAM had for African art resulted in two exhibitions entirely devoted to it, the first in January of 1945 titled Primitive African Art and the second called African Sculpture, which was on view from January 23 until February 22, 1959. The latter was the fruit of a collaborative effort with New York dealer and Africanist FIG. 7 (above): Power figure, nkisi. Kongo, DR Congo. Wood, mirror, nails, iron, pigment. Agnes Etherington Art Centre, inv. M84-356. © Agnes Etherington Art Centre. FIG. 8 (above): Installation view of Protection and Social Harmony in the Art of West and Central Africa. © Agnes Etherington Art Centre.


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