Paris, 18 June 2014
On 11 June, Tajan auction house sold a Guro mask from the Ivory Coast for €1,375,000 (including tax). The only piece in the sale dedicated to Primitive art, it was estimated at between €100,000 and 150,000. The final result marks a world record for the sale of a Guro mask.
This impressive result can be explained by the mask’s aesthetic quality and style: its creation can be attributed to someone known as the “Master of Bouaflé”, an anonymous sculptor. Only a few works by this hand have survived. As well as the aesthetic aspect, the quality of the mask’s various parts explains its high value. It is most likely that collector and art dealer Paul Guillaume brought the mask back from Africa, and it was then acquired by André Breton and, later still, Charles Ratton.