DÉSIR D’ART
FIG. 18 (left): Vertical mask, sukuru.
Mumuye, Zinna village, middle Benue region,
Nigeria.
Donated by Ewa and Yves Develon.
Musée des Confl uences.
Photo © Alain Lebas.
FIG. 19 (below): Photograph of a sukuru
mask by Arnold Rubin, 4 April 1970, Zinna,
Nigeria.
© Fowler Museum, UCLA. Rubin Archive,
neg. no. II-258.
73
FIG. 17 (right): Helmet
mask, mangam. Kantana
or Kulere, middle Benue
region, Nigeria.
Donated by Ewa and Yves Develon.
Musée des Confl uences,
inv. 2018.14.23.
Photo © Alain Lebas.
THE DESIRE FOR ART EXHIBITION
For an institution, the fact of accepting the gift of a
private collection implies that it will value and validate
the objects and documentation it is composed of, but
it also means it has agreed to be the custodian of the
story of a life.
Referring to the many interviews conducted with the
Develons, Désir d’art makes it a point to emphasize
the story of the emergence of their passion for African
sculpture in general and the affi rmation of their taste
for the arts of Nigeria in particular. Everywhere in the
show, wherever any of the forty donated pieces and
twenty loaned ones are on view, they are accompanied
by quotations from Yves Develon that help explain his
aesthetic criteria, personal appreciation, and parameters
for the selection of objects. A contemporary and
uncluttered presentation, inspired by Ewa’s approach
to the organization of space, is reminiscent of the
setting the collection has long enjoyed in their Paris
apartment (fi gs. 9 and 10). Going beyond the couple’s
personal and professional stories, the exhibition also
examines Western views of African statuary, emphasizing
the important contribution that ethnographic
documentation has made toward the understanding
of the meaning of a given object, and it explores the
notions of style, authenticity, and masterpiece that are
so dear to the art market.
This donation cements the relationship between the
Develons and the Musée des Confl uences, and this exhibition
represents a fi rst milestone in the validation
and study of this remarkable collection. As Yves observed,
“The museum now takes over where the collector
left off.”
NOTES
1. Alain Lebas, “Entretien avec Yves Develon,” in Alain Lebas
(ed.), Arts du Nigeria dans les collections privées françaises,
exhibition catalog (Musée de la Civilisation, Quebec,
October 24, 2012–April 12, 2013), Milan: 5 Continents,
2012, p. 37.
2. For more on the emergence of the market for the arts of
Eastern Nigeria, see Hélène Joubert, epilog, “Making the
Market for Benue Arts. Notes on the French Connection,” in
Marla C. Berns, Richard Fardon, and Sidney Littlefi eld Kasfi r
(eds.), Central Nigeria Unmasked. Arts of the Benue River
Valley, Los Angeles: Fowler Museum at UCLA, 2011.
3. Yves Develon, Preface, in Jean Vivier (ed.), Une passion
pour l’art africain. Collection Marie-France et Jean Vivier,
Meudon: J. Cuénot, 2005, p. 7.
4. “Une trilogie d’antiquaires à Ramatuelle,” La Marseillaise,
September 4, 1981.
5. Develon, op. cit. (note 3), p. 5.
6. A. E. Kitson, “Southern Nigeria: Some Considerations of Its
Structure, People, and Natural History,” in The Geographical
Journal, no. 1, January 1913.
.