African Sculpture from the Tara Collection. Exhibited by Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Gillon. Art Gallery University of Notre Dame March 28-May 23, 1971.

Berieben, besto�n, vergilbt, mit namentlicher Nennung des Vorbesitzers auf Schmutztitel, insgesamt guter Zustand / Rubbed, bumped, yellowed, with previous owner's name on verso title, overall good condition. - FOREWORD: We are often asked why out of all the vast range of cultures and varieties of art objects, we chose to collect the carvings of "Black Africa." The answer is not simple as we never made a conscious decision to collect African sculpture. Few people we believe, ever start a collection of any specific type of art by a sudden decision in cold blood. Rather, an interest grows in art through viewing and owning paintings and sculptures, leading to specific interests in certain styles and cultures until one gets hopelessly involved in a style, culture, school or artistic expression. Thus, the answer to those friends who are curious about our preoccupation with African sculpture is probably that it grew out of our general interest in art and previous activities as collectors. We have been collecting for many years and started with abstract, surrealist and cubist paintings and sculpture. We bought what we could afford. On our travels we looked at art wherever we found ourselves, in museums or art galleries. The dream world of the surrealists, the imagery of the abstract expressionists, and the analytical and constructivist experiments of the cubists appealed to us and influenced our acquisitions. Living with examples of modern art led us to appreciate the art of older and more remote cultures. We acquired some pieces of pre-Columbian pottery and stone sculptures, as well as ancient Luristan and Amlash bronzes. When looking for those so called "Primitives," we saw many carvings from Africa and after buying the first few pieces, we were hooked: more visits to museums and galleries, reading every available book, and of course, more and more sculptures brought home. Much has been written of the dramatic impact of the "discovery" of African sculpture early this century on the great painters of our time. The art of Picasso, Braque, Derain, etc. is said to have been influenced�at least during a specific period �by African masks and the expressionist style, symbolism, etc. of sub-Saharan carvings. There is no doubt that some of those painters' work shows such influence, but freedom from naturalism and creation of mythological dream figures go far into antiquity. Pre-Hellenistic Cycladic figures, 4000 years old, Syrian and Phoenician bronzes and carvings, the art of ancient Iran, etc. have all the elements used by some of our modern painters and sculptors. We feel very strongly that our preoccupation with modern art helped us experience the great emotional impact of the art of antiquity and the immense wealth and diversity of Black Africa's art // F�r weiteren Inhalt siehe weitere Bilder / For more content see different pictures.