ART in motion CHRISTIE’S Paris —Christie’s has announced one of the most ambitious 29 sales of tribal art it has ever assembled, which will be held June 23 at its Paris location. The auction will feature some two hundred pieces of African, Oceanic, and Native North American art, many of which have been available on the market only once or twice before over the course of the last century. Rigorously selected for their quality, the works exhibit an aesthetic that brings to mind the sculptural mastery that took center stage at the iconic Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affi nity of the Tribal and the Modern exhibition at MoMA in 1984. The sale’s relationship with this major and enduringly important exhibition is apparent in the piece that is unquestionably its highlight: a Kota reliquary guardian fi gure from Gabon, acquired in the early 1980s by William Rubin, the MoMA exhibition’s chief curator. Apart from its exceptional sculptural qualities, which unite balance, purity of line, geometric perfection, and expressiveness, the piece has an unusually rich provenance. Sculpted by a masterful nineteenthcentury Gabonese artist, the work arrived in Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century, where it was acquired by Georges de Miré. When his collection was sold in December of 1931, the piece caught the attention of Helena Rubinstein, who purchased it and brought it to New York. The piece did not change hands again until her collection was sold at Parke-Bernet in 1966. It was then acquired by David Lloyd Kreeger, the well-known collector of Impressionist and Avant-garde art, and Richard Feigen subsequently obtained it from him. Its last owner was Rubin. The sculpture RIGHT: Reliquary guardian fi gure. Kota, Gabon. 19th century. Wood, brass, copper, iron. Base by Kichizô Inagaki. H: 66 cm. Ex Georges de Miré, Paris; Helena Rubinstein, Paris/New York; David Lloyd Kreeger, Washington, DC; Richard Feigen, New York; William Rubin, New York. To be offered by Christie’s, Paris, 23 June 2015. Estimate on request. © Christie’s images limited 2015. is ubiquitous in publications and has been repeatedly exhibited. To cite but a few examples, in addition to the Primitivism exhibition, it was displayed in the show of African and Oceanic art at Paris’ Galerie Pigalle in 1930 and at the renowned exhibition, African Negro Art, at New York’s MoMA in 1935. Among the many works in which it is illustrated are L’Art Kota by Alain and Françoise Chaffi n (Meudon, 1979) and L’Art Africain by Jacques Kerchache, Jean-Louis Paudrat, and Lucien Stéphan (Editions Mazenod, 1988). This remarkable reliquary fi gure will be accompanied by many other prestigious works, including two objects from the important Vérité Collection: a Baga shoulder mask from Guinea and a Kru or Grebo mask from Liberia. A Jukun fi gure formerly in the Kerchache Collection, and a fi ne Maori nephrite club, whose beauty caught the eye of James Hooper, will undoubtedly also attract a great deal of attention. LEFT: Mask. Grebo/Kru, Liberia. To be offered at Christie’s, Paris, 23 June, 2015. Est: 500,000–800,000 euros. RIGHT: Mask. Boa, DR Congo. To be offered at Christie’s, Paris, 23 June 2015. Est: 100,000–200,000 euros.
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