| Photos - page 4 - rue Callot galleries |
| This page will focus on the galleries on the rue Callot *Text below in quotes is from the Parcours des mondes catalog Some of the photos are better than others, the lighting situation wasn't the best for non-flash photography. You can click on any image to see a larger version. |
| NEXT --> PAGE 5 photos...rue Mazarine Go to Main page - page 1 - page 2 - page 3 - page 4 - page 6 - page 7 of the Parcour des mondes 2006 recap |
| #28 was Michael Hamson Oceanic Art Michael Hamson is a really nice person and had a nice display of objects at the show. I didn't really get any good photos of the inside of his gallery, but below is the image from the event catalog along with information about it. |
| "On the large volcanic Vokeo Island the people had masked spirits called "Lewa" that instituted prohibitions against certain garden produce that enable ritual leaders to stockpile food to be used later during important ceremonies and festivals. The Lewa came in male and female pairs with long-nose varieties like this one being considered male. The present example is one of the oldest and finest I have ever seen. The medial ridge of the forehead gracefully transforms into the long, curved nose. The patina is both glossy and thickly encrusted from generations of use. The fiber bundle lashed behind the ears and around the top of the head, has been broken, exposing traces of the orange powdered "fish magic" that originally empowered the Lewa. Like all great pieces of New Guinea art this mask is both archaic and elegant." - from the Parcours des mondes catalog |
| Next was #44, Joaquin Pecci Tribal Art "Joaquin Pecci's fascination with African art and the shamanic cultures of the Himalayas began in the 1980s. In 1995, he started working with Stephane Grusenmeyer in Brussels. Working in par¬tnership with his son Karim, an expert in Asian art, Joaquin Pecci was able to focus on the gallery's African art department. Nevertheless, in 2005, he decided to end this collaboration and devote himself to his own speciality. At Parcours des Mondes, Joaquin Pecci pays homage to West Africa through several Dogon objects from Mali, including an extremely ancient horned mask from an old Dutch collection and a number of sculptures. His selection of objects from North East Nigeria includes a very interesting and rare Mama sculpture from an old German collection, a beautiful Mumuye sculpture and some Yurkun and Goemai objects. The Congo is represented by an ancient and very powerful Beniki-style Songye fetish, a handsome Pende mask and a Metoko initiation post, reminiscent of a Brancusi sculpture, from Northern Congo. East Africa is present in the shape of a Makonde mask from Tanzania, obtained from an old Swedish collection, and a Golo initiation post. The gallery is also showing a high quality and exceptionally tall (more than 1m70) ancestor figure from Madagascar." There were some interesting and nice pieces in the gallery, especially the really great Pende mask directly below which I really loved. |
| A nice Mumuye mask, one of many that were exhibited by various dealers during the show. |
| Across the street was the renowned Pace Primitive Gallery I was curious to see what objects Pace would display at the show this year. I've never been to their gallery in New York, but I have enjoyed looking at their selection of online catalogs. There were some interesting things in the gallery and I think that the favorite object for everyone in our group that was walking around was the large Solomon Islands reliquary fish that was similar to the one that was in the June Verite auction and also similar to the one in the Musee Quai Branly. The asking price was 500,000 euros I believe, it is pictured below as well as the one from the Verite auction below it. The strange thing about this object is the skull did not fit inside the cavity like the ones from Verite and the Musee Quai Branly did. Maybe it's not a concern? It just seemed odd to me, but I honestly don't know much of anything about these objects. |
| Directly above is the Solomon Islands reliquary fish, lot 322, from the Verite auction in June which sold for 600,000 euros before costs. There is also a similar one in the new Musee Quai Branly. |
| Next door to Pace was #19, Galerie Bernard Dulon "The upcoming show, opening mid-June at the Galerie Bernard Dulon in Paris and October at the Gallery Friedman & Vallois in New York, will showcase the remarkable diversity of the traditional arts of Cameroon. While the arts from the Western kingdoms take the lion's share, including, among others, major Bangwa and Bamileke sculptures and an amazing collection of beaded royal items, the Fang populations from the southern part of the country will occupy a place of choice with their famed reliquary figures or enema byeri, along with the Gbadja, from the South-East, the Bafo, the Doualas and the peoples living on the borders with Nigeria. Each piece was lovingly selected by Bernard Dulon; the gallery will publish a catalogue written by Bettina von Lintig, directed by Alain Weill with photographs by Hugues Dubois to commemorate the occasion." The Cameroon exhibition was full of interesting objects. Directly below is the Fang byeri figure featured in the catalog, it wasn't present in the exhibition and I would assume that it had already been sold. It has a wonderful face. |
| Another gallery that I believe was part of Parcoures des mondes but wasn't in the catalog was the Oliver Klejman Gallery This gallery was one of the few that exhibited figures from Tanzania, and one of their figures got my "favorite piece of the show" designation. It was a wonderful and large figure that was identified as Sukuma. The figure was twisted and had red pigment applied, the photos I took of it really don't do it justice. I really loved the figure and I would have love to have brought it home, but at 40,000 euros I will have to just look at the photos instead. I also loved the Tanzanian figure the gallery had in their front window, check out the raised hand, it was a little figure with attitude! (grin) |
| Below are the photos of the Sukuma figure that I loved. I talked to the gallery owner and he said that figures such as this were placed in fields to protect the crops, sort of how we use "scarecrow" figures. He was missing an arm, which was unfortunate, but it was still a very interesting figure, at least to me. He explained that my Sukuma figure probably/possibly had the same purpose. |
