IN TRIBUTE
Joseph Knopfelmacher 1923–2019
IF A COMPLETE HISTORY is ever written on African art
in America, some space will need to be devoted to Joseph
Knopfelmacher: dealer, collector, and founder of the landmark
130
shop Craft Caravan in New York’s SoHo. Joe was
born on September 29, 1923, in Debrecen, Hungary. As
Jews, his family fl ed for their lives, ending up in New York
City. Already a self-described lover of art, a statement in his
1941 high school yearbook says where “Knopf” was most
likely to be found: “In an art gallery.” How do I know this?
Because around 1993, relatively early in my career as a base
maker, a short, bearded man appeared at my door, seeking
a base for a fascinating iron fi gure with a chain around its
neck. “May I ask,” my new client added in a distinctive accent
I would come to know so well, “are you any relation to
Thomas Naegele who went to the High School of Industrial
Arts?” Indeed, my father was at that moment eight fl oors
above my basement workshop in his studio. Five minutes
later the two men, one-time classmates, met again for the
fi rst time in more than half a century.
By the early 1960s, Joe had yet to fi nd his calling. At the
time, modest emporia were appearing around the city peddling
arts and crafts from Latin America. Jet travel had made
the world a little smaller, recasting the esoteric as cool. Joe
thought he might try his hand in a similar endeavor but was
reluctant to compete with existing shops. An acquaintance
suggested Ethiopia or West Africa as untapped resources, and
Joe set off on his fi rst buying trip. He was soon an importer
of ethnic crafts from Africa. In 1965, he opened a shop
near Manhattan’s then-downtrodden SoHo neighborhood,
naming the business Craft Caravan. The store later moved to
Greene Street, where his initial rent was a mere $50 a month.
Joe’s trading partners in Africa were constantly pushing
him to buy antiques as well as newer crafts. New York collector
Noble Endicott relates that in 1972, he made one of
his fi rst African art purchases ever from Joe. Joe’s colleagues
had told him he was out of his mind for paying $40 for
the fragmentary Yoruba sculpture, but he sold it to Noble
for $250. He steadily built a client base of both collectors
and dealers. Soho was becoming a neighborhood of artists
and urban pioneers. The sculptor Donald Judd lived around
the corner and, along with artists Dan Flavin and Cindy
Sherman, was an occasional customer. Every few months
Joe would head off to Accra, Addis, and Maiduguri, buying
Joseph Knopfelmacher. Photo courtesy of Amyas Naegele.
headrests, textiles, small bronzes, barbershop signs, and
sculptures, often in groups. He bought a lot, always paid on
time, and the traders adored him.
Joe’s African contacts included Malians who dealt in newly
discovered archaeological works then known as Bambara terracottas,
which were later renamed after the sites where material
had been unearthed: Djenne/Jenno and Bankoni. Joe was
among the fi rst to bring such works to the United States, which
was then legal. In the early 1980s, he staged a show of these
sculptures, complete with a catalog. He also built notable collections
of Lobi sculpture and Ethiopian liturgical material, and the
best of the latter is now in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Joe’s wife, artist Margaret Harris, did the accounting for
Craft Caravan, and his mother, Caroline, ran its jewelry
counter, with Joe and Margaret at times famously ending
their day with a cigar. In 1985, Joe decided to retire, selling
the business to employees Ford Wheeler and Ignacio Villarreal.
Free of the store, Joe continued to visit Africa regularly
and to sell privately from his apartment overlooking the East
Village. By then, he was not reluctant to ask tremendous prices
or to pay top dollar for objects he considered outstanding.
Joe made his last visit to the continent (to Niger) while in his
eighties. By this time, his passions had turned to terracottas
from the central Sahel: Bura, Katsina and Sokoto, as well as
Neolithic tools and strangely shaped rocks from the Sahara,
some of which would later be designated illegal for import.