Paris, 18 June 2014
Today’s sale of African & Oceanic Art at Sotheby’s Paris totalled €6,267,000 ($8,513,531), with almost 85% sold by value. Highlight was unquestionably the Fang Mabea figure that was sold for €4,353,500 ($5,914,099) well above its high estimate of €3.5m: a world auction record for a Fang figure, and the third-highest price for a work of African Art ever achieved at auction. This masterly figure, chosen to illustrate the cover of the specialist ‘bible’ L’Art Africain by Kerchache, Paudrat & Stéphan (published by Mazenod in 1988), formerly belonged to Félix Fénéon and Jacques Kerchache.
To Marguerite de Sabran, Head of African & Oceanic Art at Sotheby’s Paris, “This exceptional sculpture is the work of a virtuoso artist, and surpasses Time and Geography to attain the status of a Universal work of art. Its aesthetics and power fascinated Félix Fénéon and Jacques Kerchache, two towering figures passionately committed to furthering appreciation of tribal art, and who both made it the cornerstone of their collections. This record price ensures its place in art market history.”
Ever since it was discovered by members of the Avant-Garde on the eve of World War I, Fang sculpture has been considered the pinnacle of African art. Such items, however, remain very rare and, even today, fewer than a dozen works compose the most restrained corpus of Fang sculpture: that of the Fang Mabea (Cameroon). The spectacular figure (67cm tall) offered by Sotheby’s is the most important item from this ensemble, and the only one still in private hands.
The figure oscillates between realistic detail and idealized form, and constitutes the apotheosis of the Mabea style. Louis Perrois believes it portrays a female ancestor revered for her abundant offspring, and counts as an archetypal masterpiece of African sculpture. The perfectly polished surfaces of its dense, golden wood, allied to its refined carving, embody an ancient tradition.
Works from the Bernd Muhlack Collection also stood out during the sale, notably those conveying the sculptural power of art from the Bamileke kingdoms of Cameroon – notably a monumental Bamileke figure combining violence of expression with dazzling plastic audacity. This posted the evening’s second-highest price of €397,500 ($ 539,992) (lot 61). Another superb work on offer was a Luluwa Cup-Bearer from the Democratic Republic of Congo, collected between 1928-45, which caught the eye with its refined carving and jewellery. This effigy, intended to intercede between the living and the dead, sold well clear of top-estimate for €361,500 ($491,087) (lot 28, est. €180,000-250,000).
The richly varied sale also included a Vuvi mask from Gabon, previously known only from a blackand-white photograph. The importance of one of the oldest and most remarkable of Vuvi masks was not lost on the saleroom, which propelled it to €109,500 ($148,752) (lot 71).