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139 FIG. 16 (below): Figure. Asante, Ghana. Wood. H: 37 cm. Photo: Alberto Ricci. author of L’Homme blanc published by Editions du Chêne, and a close friend too), Christophe Flubacher (scientific director of the Pierre Arnaud Foundation), and I were interested in presenting a fresh approach to the subject, but we wanted our endeavor to be rigorous and scientific. In order to make the exhibition complete, we borrowed certain important pieces to fill it out. These include bronzes from the Kingdom of Benin on loan from the Dresden Museum, a Sapi saltcellar from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, and objects from the Louvre in Paris, the Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale in Tervuren, and several other major museum and private collections. T. A. M.: You were initially interested in the traditional arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. How did you come to collect colonial art? A. W.: Yes and no. I was originally interested in European painting and decorative arts, as well as in art brut. My next publication will be devoted to a collection of unusual bottles. I’m always a bit on the margins and between the lines, which many people have trouble understanding. I came to tribal art quite early on and by a circuitous path. I discovered colonial art pretty much by accident. The grandson of an old painter named Capon gave me my first object (fig. 10). It was unlike anything I had acquired until then— and I didn’t have much at the time. My budget was limited since I had very little money but a predilection for an expensive, night-owl Parisian lifestyle. Soon thereafter, a friend of mine, who had just returned from a trip to Africa, brought me a Dan spoon on which the figure was wearing a charming pair of pants. The unique qualities of these two objects aroused my curiosity. Even if I wasn’t fully aware of it at the time, I’ve found that what stimulates my interest most is what triggers questions in me. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from François Mathey, head curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs when I was working there. He cultivated an approach to art in the broadest sense, which was unique and knowingly paradoxical. He went from contemporary art to art brut and conceived of exhibitions like Sucre d’Art (Sugar Art) and confrontations like Equivoques (Ambivalences), which dealt with latenineteenth century academic painting. I owe him a great deal. . T. A. M.: How do you keep your collection going? What do you see its future to be? A. W.: First of all, I would rather call myself an aficionado than a collector, even if the end result is a collection. I am not compulsive, although I am always guided by my intuition. To see a part of my collection exhibited obviously gives me some satisfaction, but it is not the crowning highlight of my life. I am sure that I will always have a predilection for colonial art, but beyond that I always will be open to whatever awakens my curiosity. Whatever they may be, my acquisitions will be coherent to the extent that they will be unconventional. They will represent interesting choices rather than the conformism that often guides the decisions of people, who, due to lack of passion, imagination, or judgment, allow themselves to be swept up in repetitive or even speculative behaviors. That aside, given the limited means I have at my disposal, if I want to acquire quality objects, I have to stray off the beaten path. There are countless little masterpieces to be discovered if one searches for them. Buying mediocre objects to follow trends or a list of recognized artists makes no sense to me. I would paraphrase the great antiques dealer Nicolas Landau to say that the beautiful will always be very, very far from the very beautiful. Wanting reassurance is a choice— but not mine. My approach is resolutely poetic. FACING PAGE FIG. 13 (far left): Articulated marionette by Stéphane Brosset. Outskirts of Kinshasa, DR Congo. FIG. 14 (near left top): Georges Schoeffer Boussembo, chief of Baloumbo (left), and Maroumbi, chief of Bayaka (right). Gabon, January 1911. Silver gelatin print. Éric Deroo Collection. FIG. 15 (near left bottom): Photograph by Armand Joseph Oscar Hutereau of the Monga chief Bula- Matadi. Ubangi, DR Congo. Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren. Alain Weill


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