Sculpture in Private Collection in Libreville

Also in this fabulous private collection in Libreville we admired these stylized figures, which to our Western eyes were immediately reminiscent of Alberto Giacometti’s (Swiss sculptor b.1901 – d.1966) surrealist figures through the similar usage of elongated form. However, this male and female pair comes from the Ivory Coast. Unlike Giacometti’s sculptures, these smooth wooden figures are represented by protruding bellies, pensive stances and birds poised atop their heads.

An exhibition entitled Giacometti and the Etruscans just closed in January at the Pinacotheque de Paris. The catalogue is still available at the museum (www.pinacotheque.com/?id=707) and in it are discussed Giacometti’s long fascination with the ’primitive arts’ of the Aztecs, Maya and African civilizations. Ultimately it was Etruscan (modern-day Tuscany in central Italy) sculpture,  that informed his elongated figures.

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