Richard Scheller 143 TAM: There is a major exhibition of your collection with an impressive accompanying catalog coming up in early 2015 at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. How did this come about and what will its impact be? RS: About five or so years ago, Kathy Berrin (then the de Young’s curator for the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas) and I had the idea to put on a show to share the collection with the people of the Bay Area and other visitors to the museum. I began to work with two other friends at that time to get the material ready for this. Manuel Jordán, the scholar of Chokwe art, began to build a Website with my pieces in order to compile provenance information. I also met a great photographer, Robert Kato. I would bring the objects a few at a time to Robert’s house and, after some experimenting, we found a way to photograph them that appealed to both of us. He used all natural light and would spend hours with an object before he found the view that he felt revealed the spirit of the piece. When Kathy retired from the de Young, the project shifted to another curator there, Christina Hellmich, who has brought the project to realization. I’ve also had the pleasure to work with Lesley Bone, the museum’s head conservator. With this great team of Manuel, Robert, Lesley, Christina, and myself, we’ve been able to put together the show and the book. I’ve enjoyed this project but am also happy it is nearing the end, since it also was a lot of work. In conjunction with all this, I’m in the process of donating a number of pieces to the de Young, which I hope will benefit its African art collection. The contents of that donation will be made public around the time of the opening. As for the bulk of my collection, I plan to continue to live with it, hopefully for a very long time. FIG. 6 (far left): Standing figure. Luluwa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ex Pace Primitive, New York; Oldman Collection, Liverpool. Wood. H: 39.2 cm. FIG. 7 (top left): Male and female figures. Tabwa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wood. H: 40 cm (female) and 44 cm (male). FIG. 8 (bottom left): Seated figure. Chokwe, Angola. Ex Alain de Monbrison, Paris. Wood. H: 24.5 cm. FIG. 9 (right): Male figure. Fang, Gabon. Ex Paul Guillaume (archive no. 601), Paris; Pierre Vérité, Paris. Wood. H: 58 cm.
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