Modern Malawi and Nigerian Wood Figures
I have quite a number of tourist pieces and I enclose a few
photographs.
Although obviously made for the tourist market they do in my
opinion have quite an artistic value. (Not I hasten to add monetary value). The
two statues were picked up by me in Malawi in 1989.
The ebony head was
acquired by me in Nigeria in 2000. 
Each of the above
pieces are not only beautiful work of art (in my opinion) but provided some
money to the artist towards improving his quality of life, which for all of us
especially the poor of Africa cannot be a bad thing.
Hi Harold
I agree that these pieces are of very high aesthetic
standards, and the workmanship is remarkable.
I'd also suspect that the
community of collectors of African tribal arts would have relatively little
interest in them. One reason would be the question of whether they reflect the
local aesthetic or were made specifically to meet the western aesthetic. They
seem too "polished", too "professional" for African tribal pieces.
I'm
not sure that this is a rational position, but collecting isn't a rational
activity so perhaps that doesn't matter so much.
Viewed simply as
sculptural figures (as opposed to as African tribal art), I like them very
much.
Regards,
Steve Price
Hi Steve
I have posted these not as African Tribal Art but as
Ethnographic tourist art.
My purpose was to add to the discussion that
African Art does not only need to be "tribal art" The fact that they are
pleasing to the eye of the beholder is in my opinion enough for them to be
considered art.
Whether the collector of tribal art would collect such a
piece is not of interest to me.
If you feel that this forum is not an
appropriate place to post such objects, then please remove them with no hard
feelings.
Harold
Hi Harold
My comments were not intended to suggest that these pieces
are inappropriate or uninteresting - I think they are appropriate to the topic,
interesting and of high aesthetic quality.
I think there is a very wide
spectrum of art and artistic traditions in Africa (I suspect that you agree),
and I was simply thinking out loud about where I place these in that spectrum.
Regards,
Steve Price
Hi Arold,
I am very happy that you brought us, SHARED us , pieces of
your collection. I fully understand Harold being an African art COLLECTOR and
loving these beautiful figures. I also RESPECT the art and the work of the
African artiste who carved out these well defined and detailed sculptures from
an ordinary log of wood.
Can anyone in this forum do the same? If yes, I am
sure that this person admires these sculptures also!
I am not that sure
that the community of collectors of African tribal art has relatively little
interest in them! Every African tribal art collector has one or more pieces that
is touristic. (I THINK) The importance is the fact that they are pleasing to the
eyes of the beholder.
Contempory African art has it's place in someone's
heart, especially in the artiste's. African art evolves and I am glad of that!
Africans explores the universe of art and will purposely combine tribal art and
contemporary art to make a wonderful blend of both.
You presented us,
Steve, in the ARCHIVES ESSAYS AND DISCUSSION, (the tread is.....An authentic
fake , with provenance by Steve Price) a contempory sculpture that is not tribal
or even African. It is signed Baxter Rains. It looks quite Senegal art indeed.
The importance is the fact that they are pleasing to the eyes of the beholder.
It is very interesting and I respect the work of the artiste.
With that,
I understand Arold presenting us his pieces.
I especially love the ebony
head! The darknest of the wood(usually there are always lighter spots in a big
piece), the details in the hair, the face is wonderful, and the way the neck and
the hair rejoins the base is very original. I love this piece! It is a beautiful
work of art! This is quality African art indeed.
How tall is that piece?
Merci
Andre Lapointe
Hi Andre
I agree that Harold's pieces are very artistic and of
excellent quality. Since my remark about them being unlikely to appeal to the
community of collectors of African tribal arts ruffled some feathers, I've spent
some time trying to clarify my thoughts. Here's where I am on that, right
now.
1. If those pieces were consigned to an auction house for sale, I
don't think they would be included in a "tribal arts" sale, but in a sale
devoted to "fine arts". That is, the pool of potential buyers would be much
larger among fine arts collectors than among tribal arts collectors. That's my
opinion, at least.
2. Although the models for the figures are clearly
Africans and the pieces were, no doubt, made in Africa, they do not come out of
the tradition of African sculpture, but are from the European tradition: highly
refined, extremely finely detailed, very realistic.
3. Although they were
made by African people, a talented European visiting Africa (say, a talented
French sculptor) would also be likely to create such works. My brass figures
from Cameroon and your kuduo are completely and unmistakably African in
character.
4. We could compare them to the colonial figures made by west
Africans. The subjects of those carvings are European, but the artistic
tradition is very clearly African. Harold's (very beautiful) pieces are the
other side of the coin: the subjects are Africans, but the artistic tradition is
European.
I hope this offends nobody - saying that a piece is from the
European tradition is not an insult, simply an attempt to classify it in terms
of its roots. The Baxter Rains sculpture that you refer to is very clearly of
the European tradition, although it shows obvious African
influence.
Regards,
Steve Price
Good afternoon all
First of all Steve please don't get the impression
that MY feathers are ruffled. This is exactly the type of discussion that I
wished to provoke.
Although you are right about European influence, I see
nothing wrong in an artist catering to the market, and if that happens to be a
European market, why should the African artist not provide what is
demanded.
There are collectors of tribal art and there are collectors of
art for arts sake and I happen to be a bit of both, although my budget does not
allow me to buy beautiful tribal art pieces.
Andre thank you for your
kind comments, you seem to share my views. For your information the Ebony head
is 12 inches (30 cm) high and is signed on the base by the artist - F. Oviasuyi
which in my opinion gives it an additional nice
touch.
Regards
Harold
Hi Harold
I don't see anything wrong with an artist catering to the
market, either, and hope I didn't give anyone a different impression. In fact,
nearly every artist caters to his market. The traditional African carver who
makes ritual objects operates under rather tight constraints imposed by the
requirements of his market.
Regards,
Steve Price
Hi to all!
The conclusion I retain in this discusson, is that everyone
who takes the time to expose and share their African art to this forum, cares
and loves their pieces! It is obvious that this person wants good and positif
remarks! Respect of others art pieces is primordial! The same happened to my
Kuduo pot, the same from Harold's sculptures, the same with Steve's sculture ( I
made it on purpose so that you would react) and maybe other discussions that I
do not know. It all comes to how and the manner peolple brings their opinion. I
think it needs lots of respect. Sometimes .....it is only a misunderstanding and
we do not clearly define what we really think, sometimes not! RESPECT IS THE
KEY.
BUT.........we live in a free world with different points of views,
different cultures, different thoughts and opinion. We are free to express
ourselfs in the manner we want even if feathers are ruffled.
This is why
we are here. What purposes would there be a DISCUSSON FORUM if everybody had the
same OPINION? I like ACTION and this what makes it very interesting. There are
tousands of discusson forums of African art on INTERNET. Why do I come here?
Because it is interesting, I get well informed (many members have great
knowledge), and I have fun!
Best regards,
Andre Lapointe