ART ON VIEW the contents of private collections in France have increasingly become known to museum audiences, demonstrating that, contrary to their traditionally confi dential nature, collectors do have a desire to share. Other exhibitions have arisen from this interest in collections and private collectors,2 especially those with a focus on African art.3 Whatever the fi eld, the subject of private collections is increasingly being examined, the more so because it offers a “real time” snapshot that relates the unique path and engagement of an individual, as well as his place in a broader and longer history that forms an epoch, or even a series of epochs. But what characterizes twenty-fi rst-century collections, and specifi cally that of Ladreit de Lacharrière, which contains sixty widely varied objects? The latter is the focus of a new and perhaps unexpected exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly, which presents side by side a sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz, another by Picasso, a painting by Hans Hartung, another by Serge Charchoune, an antique Middle-Eastern owl, and a portrait of Emperor Hadrian. Some twenty eclectic references of this kind accompany a strong nucleus of fortyone 74 examples of non-European art (thirty-six African and fi ve Oceanic), among them a number of acknowledged masterpieces in these areas. The state of the “tribal” art market has had a signifi cant impact on the content of new collections formed in the early years of the twenty-fi rst century. The African art market grew gradually in the fi rst third of the twentieth century, with recognition coming both from artists and early collectors, most of whom associated modernist painting with art nègre, which is to say, mostly African sculpture. It followed a continuous progression that included several key moments, including the Great Depression of the 1930s, which saw the dispersal of the fi rst well-known collections. Notable among these were public auctions of the collections of André Breton and Paul Éluard in 1931, an economic success with prices that exceeded expectations, as well as that of Georges Miré, also in 1931, and, later, of Félix Fénéon in 1947. The assignation of value to African art by the early dealers—Paul Guillaume in particular—was exported to the United States in the 1920s.4 In 1931, Pierre Matisse, the painter’s son, opened a gallery next to MOMA in New York, shortly before the latter staged the FIG. 5 (left): Reliquary guardian fi gure, eyemabyeri. Fang, Betsi/Mekè substyle, Gabon. 19th century. Wood, shiny black patina. Base by Kichizô Inagaki (1876–1951), Paris. H: 42.5 cm. Ex Georges de Miré (1890–1965), Paris, 1920–1931; Collection G. de Miré. Sculptures anciennes d’Afrique et d’Amérique, Drouot, Paris, December 16, 1931, lot 49; Nico Mazaraki, Paris; Albert Kleinmann, Paris, 1930–1950; Christie’s, Paris, June 14, 2004, lot 186 and cover; Galerie Bernard de Grunne, Brussels, 2005; Adam Lindemann, New York; Sotheby’s, Paris, December 11, 2013, lot 23. © Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. Photo by Claude Germain. FIG. 6 (right): Statue of the young Herakles. Third century AD. Marble. H: 70.5 cm. Ex Galerie Cybele, Paris. © Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. Photo by Claude Germain.
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