- 48
STATUE, KEAKA, NIGERIA |
Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 EUR
bidding is closed
Description
- haut. 65,5 cm ; 25 13/16 in
Provenance
Pierre Harter (1928-1991), Paris
Pierre Robin, Paris
Collection Marceau Rivière, Paris, acquis ca. 1985
Pierre Robin, Paris
Collection Marceau Rivière, Paris, acquis ca. 1985
Exhibited
Paris, Ecole Supérieure Internationale d'Art et de Gestion, Art Africain, 23 avril - 3 mai 1991
Literature
Rivière et Lehuard, Art Africain, 1991, n° 31
Catalogue Note
La statuaire des Keaka - peuple du sud-est de la Cross River vivant dans la région de la rivière Donga, à la frontière du Nigeria et du Cameroun - est relativement rare et peu documentée. Elle constitue un style de transition entre l'art des Chamba et celui des Mumuye avec lequel elle partagerait un rôle d'ordre thérapeutique. Au sein de son corpus la statue de la Collection Marceau Rivière s’affirme par son archaïsme et sa monumentalité. La puissance exprimée par la sculpture est accentuée par la remarquable dynamique de la pose et des volumes. Le sculpteur a traité avec un talent égal chaque angle de vue, jouant sur le double mouvement des jambes, du torse et des bras pour inscrire avec force le personnage dans l'espace. La tension de la pose est augmentée par la hardiesse de la sculpture, jouant sur la triangulation, la juxtaposition des plans inclinés en profondeur et l'accentuation des points de rupture, et sur l'expression saisissante du visage résumé à la bouche ouverte et aux yeux, les autres traits disparaissant sous l'épaisse patine croûteuse. Par sa position et son esthétique, elle s’apparente étroitement à la figure surmontant le masque-heaume de l’ancienne Collection Liliane et Michel Durant-Dessert publié dès 1976 par Ladislas Segy (Masks of Black Africa, n° 192).
The Keaka are a people of the south-eastern part of the Cross River, living in the Donga River area, at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Their figurative sculpture is relatively rare and poorly documented. The figures are a transitional style between the art of the Chamba and that of the Mumuye, and may have shared a therapeutic function with them.
In the small known corpus the figure from the Marceau Rivière collection stands out thanks to its archaism and monumentality. The forcefulness expressed in the sculpture is accentuated by the remarkable dynamic of the stance and volumes. The sculptor approached each and every angle with equal skill, playing on the dual movement of the legs, torso and arms to give the character a striking presence in space. The tension of the pose is highlighted by the boldness of the sculpture. This specific characteristic is all the more accentuated by a play on triangulation with the juxtaposition of steep, inclined planes, the emphasis on breaking points as well as on the striking facial expression pared down to the open mouth and eyes, while other features disappear under the thick crusty patina. In its position and aesthetics, it closely resembles the figure set on top of the helmet mask from the former Liliane and Michel Durant-Dessert Collection published in 1976 by Ladislas Segy (Masks of Black Africa, No.192).
The Keaka are a people of the south-eastern part of the Cross River, living in the Donga River area, at the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. Their figurative sculpture is relatively rare and poorly documented. The figures are a transitional style between the art of the Chamba and that of the Mumuye, and may have shared a therapeutic function with them.
In the small known corpus the figure from the Marceau Rivière collection stands out thanks to its archaism and monumentality. The forcefulness expressed in the sculpture is accentuated by the remarkable dynamic of the stance and volumes. The sculptor approached each and every angle with equal skill, playing on the dual movement of the legs, torso and arms to give the character a striking presence in space. The tension of the pose is highlighted by the boldness of the sculpture. This specific characteristic is all the more accentuated by a play on triangulation with the juxtaposition of steep, inclined planes, the emphasis on breaking points as well as on the striking facial expression pared down to the open mouth and eyes, while other features disappear under the thick crusty patina. In its position and aesthetics, it closely resembles the figure set on top of the helmet mask from the former Liliane and Michel Durant-Dessert Collection published in 1976 by Ladislas Segy (Masks of Black Africa, No.192).