MUSEUM NEWS
NEW ACQUISITIONS AT LACMA
LOS ANGELES—Each year since 1986, the Collectors
Committee of the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art (LACMA) holds a fundraiser that results in the
acquisition of several artworks for the collection. This
year’s event was a two-day affair that included curator
led art presentations, private dinners at the homes
of major LACMA supporters, and a gala dinner where
members voted on artworks to add to the museum’s
permanent collection. The ninety-six voting members
raised more than $3.1 million and expended it on ten
items or groups of items. Two of these augment the
museum’s quietly but signifi cantly growing collection
of African art. Following this meeting, a monumental
Ijo forest spirit fi gure from Nigeria, one of the most
imposing and expressive of all known examples of its
type, is now part of LACMA’s permanent collection. It
was the centerpiece of Tradition as Innovation in African
Art at LACMA in 2008, and with its seven heads
and fourteen eyes, it now underscores the multiplicity
of visions that LACMA embodies and imparts. The
second acquisition is a collection of twenty-nine Mbuti
barkcloth paintings from the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. Painted by women, these delicate artworks
emphasize asymmetry and visual dissonance
that simultaneously mimics the imagery of the Ituri
rainforest where the Mbuti live and aligns with the
syncopated polyphonic rhythms of their music. This
collection is a fi tting counterpoint for the museum’s
strong collection of Kuba cut-pile prestige textiles, itself
a gift of the Collectors Committee in 2009.
LEFT: Ceremonial barkcloth,
pongo.
Mbuti, Ituri Forest,
Democratic Republic of the
Congo. 20th century.
Inner bark (bast), natural pigments.
62.9 x 38.7 cm.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
gift of the 2018 Collectors Committee.
Photo © Andres Moraga Textile Arts
and © Ralph Koch.
FAR LEFT: Ceremonial
barkcloth, pongo.
Mbuti, Ituri Forest,
Democratic Republic of the
Congo. 20th century.
Inner bark (bast), natural pigments.
82.6 x 36.8 cm.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
gift of the 2018 Collectors Committee.
Photo © Andres Moraga Textile Arts
and © Ralph Koch.
BELOW: H.M. King
Kalakaua of Hawaii, c. 1880.
Photographer unknown.
Lantern slide. 8.3 x 8.3 cm.
Honolulu Museum of Art, inv.
14005.1.
Photo: Shuzo Uemoto, © Honolulu
Museum of Art.
LEFT: Forest spirit fi gure.
Ijo culture, Niger Delta,
Nigeria. Early 19th century.
Wood, charcoal, chalk. H: 221 cm.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
gift of the Silver Family and the 2018
Collectors Committee.
Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s, Inc.,
© 2017.
HO‘OULU
HONOLULU—Ho‘oulu: The King Kalakaua Era, a historical
exhibition coming to the Honolulu Museum of
Art, considers art and experimentation in the Hawaiian
Kingdom during the reign of King David Kalakaua
(1874–1891). Cosmopolitanism—the idea that local
polities share systemic parallels internationally as part
of a world citizenry—was a thriving philosophy in the
Hawaiian Kingdom during this time, and it was expressed
through art. People in Hawai‘i developed a
visual language that merged art and politics and that
presented local iterations of global art styles. They expanded
an existing visual culture using a combination
of indigenous and introduced materials, concepts, and
techniques. The show features experimental artworks
alongside academic artworks to explore how both the
avant-garde and the academic were deployed in the
shaping of a national identity, prompting dialog about
issues of adaptability, economy, and ceremony. More
importantly, it looks at underlying perceptions about
the Hawaiian place in the world at the turn of the
last century. It also challenges ideas about tradition,
modernity, and culture in Hawai‘i through the collection
and loaned works. A lavish catalog accompanies
the show and a full slate of programming by the PA‘I
Foundation that will be announced soon.