147 tribal art before and there was so much of it—I was completely overwhelmed. At that tender age, I didn’t immediately launch into collecting objects but instead focused on building a library. The books Africa Negra and Oceania from the Spanish edition of the Univers des Formes series became my bedtime reading material. Very few other works on the subject had been translated into Spanish at that time. Since then, my interest in the arts and cultures of faraway peoples has never waned. I spent my university years studying anthropology and contemporary history, but never missed an opportunity to take elective courses on art history. Later I also studied museology and photography, with a specialty in travel photography, which ultimately led to my professional involvement in publishing. T.A.M.: What fi rst put you on the path of acquiring art objects? J.L.: In 1981 I was taking courses in London. One of my favorite distractions was to spend my spare time in fl ea markets, especially Camden and Portobello, which were always lively and exciting places to be. The latter market provided my fi rst opportunities to hold tribal art objects in my hand. Portobello Road was also where I met Anthony Jack, who unfortunately left us in 2012 see Tribal Art, Autumn 2012. He was a truly tireless scavenger with an unfailing eye, and every week I went to see what new discoveries he had turned up. My fi rst acquisitions were purchased from him—Polynesian and Melanesian clubs, which I resold quite quickly in order to fi nance my stay in England and to be able to make new purchases. I quickly found that possessing an object was not nearly as fascinating to me as an encounter with a new one. Quite soon after, with the money I had made buying and selling the clubs I had obtained from Anthony Jack, I acquired what I consider to be the fi rst work of tribal art that is still part of my “selection.” I prefer the terms “selection” and “ensemble” to collection and see them as more apt descriptors for my particular process. It was a Bembe fi gure and I still own it because its beauty still speaks to me. I found it completely by accident at a generalist antiques dealer in Spain, and it was the only piece of tribal art in his shop. I was seduced by this sculpture and was able to buy it by paying over time. Since then, it has been published in Raoul Lehuard’s Art Bakongo: Les Centres de Style, then in Marc Leo Felix’s Art & Kongos (in which the drawing of the piece accurately shows it with its broken foot), and again in the exhibition catalog for La Figura Imaginada, produced by the Fundación La FIG. 1 (top left): Comb. Lwimbi, Angola. 19th–20th century. H: 15.9 cm. Ex Jean and Noble Endicott, New York. © Tribal Art magazine, photo by Santiago Borthwick. FIG. 2 (middle left): Veneta and Javier Lentini in their living room. On the table in front of them is a Sango reliquary guardian fi gure from Gabon; a bowl, umeke la’au, from Hawaii; and a Lobi stool, daàká, from Burkina Faso. © Tribal Art magazine, photo by Santiago Borthwick. FIG. 3 (bottom left): Group of three objects from the Democratic Republic of the Congo arranged with a copy of the fi rst edition of the Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion (Four Books on Human Proportions) by Albrecht Dürer, published in Nuremberg in 1528. From left to right: a Hemba Janus fi gure, a Kusu fi gure, and a Luba lubuko divination pounder from the Middle Luvua workshop. © Tribal Art magazine, photo by Santiago Borthwick. FIG. 4 (right): Ceremonial fl ute stopper. Sawos, Middle Sepik, Papua New Guinea. 17th–18th century. H: 46 cm. © Tribal Art magazine, photo by Santiago Borthwick.
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