Sotheby's In Pursuit of Beauty: The Myron Kunin Collection of African Art New York | 11 Nov 2014, 10:00 AM | N09225 LOT 18 DAN FEMALE FIGURE, IVORY COAST OR LIBERIA on a base by the Japanese wood artist Kichizô Inagaki (1876-1951), Paris. Height: 20 3/4 in (52.7 cm) ESTIMATE 250,000-350,000 USD Lot Sold: 353,000 USD PROVENANCE Josef Müller, Paris and Solothurn, by 1939 Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, Geneva, by descent from the above Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva (inv. no. "1003-5") Lance and Roberta Entwistle, London, acquired from the above Myron Kunin, Minneapolis, acquired from the above on March 10, 1995 EXHIBITED Rietberg Museum Zürich, Zurich, Die Kunst der Dan, October 17 - November 21, 1976 Musée Barbier-Mueller, Geneva, Collection Barbier-Müller Genève: Sculptures d’Afrique, Spring - Summer, 1978 Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Solothurn, Exotische Kunst aus der Barbier-Müller Sammlung: Amerika, Afrika, Südsee, 1981 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, February 27 - April 10, 1988; additional venues: Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, June 4 - August 14, 1988 Haus der Kunst, Munich, December 17, 1988 - February 19, 1989 Musée Rath, Geneva, March 15 - May 15, 1989 Hamline University Art Galleries, Saint Paul, Icons of Perfection: Figurative Sculpture from Africa, December 2, 2005 February 11, 2006 LITERATURE Eberhard Fischer and Hans Himmelheber, Die Kunst der Dan, Zurich, 1976, p. 152, fig. 140 Jean Louis Paudrat and Claude Savary, Collection Barbier-Müller Genève: Sculptures d’Afrique, Geneva, 1977, p. 81, fig. 13 Julie Jones, Jean-Louis Paudrat, Christian Kaufmann, Exotische Kunst aus der Barbier-Müller Sammlung: Amerika, Afrika, Südsee, Solothurn, 1981, p. 77 Eberhard Fischer and Hans Himmelheber, The Art of the Dan in West Africa, Zurich, 1984, p. 116, fig. 131 Werner Schmalenbach, Afrikanische Kunst aus der Sammlung Barbier-Mueller, Munich, 1988, p. 118, cat. 51 Jean-Paul Barbier, Arts de la Côte d'Ivoire, Geneva, 1993, Vol. 2, p. 67, fig. 101 Frank Herreman, Icons of Perfection: Figurative Sculpture from Africa, St. Paul, 2006, p. 22, cat. 7 CATALOGUE NOTE In Dan culture, beautiful, idealized sculptures of women were conceived as portraits of specific individuals. They served as important markers of status, conferring distinction upon both their owners and the subjects they represented. The Kunin Dan female statue, previously in the collection of Josef Müller, and then the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, is of an unusual and particularly refined style, featuring a dramatically rounded head and exceptionally fine detail. This figure was acquired by Josef Müller before 1939. A major collector of Modern art and particularly of the work of Pablo Picasso, Müller started collecting African art in the 1920s. Today his collection forms the core of the Musée Barbier-Mueller in Geneva. Also notable is the figure's base by the Japanese wood artist Kichizô Inagaki (1876-1951), Paris.
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