Seventy-nine Tribal Art auction catalogues, Sotheby's London and New York, 1968-1984 (79)

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MORNING SESSION AT 10.30 A.M. (Lots 1 - 194) Baron Freddy Rolin (1919-2001) Freddy Rolin was a well known figure in the Tribal Art world. A man of exceptional perception and enthusiasm, he could be found in the museums, galleries and salerooms of Brussels, Paris, London and New York. As a young man he trained as a singer before he realised he would never attain the level of ability his perfectionist nature demanded. He enjoyed hunting - he was a skilled shot - and practised boxing. His adventurous nature took him to Africa where he worked as a banker in Tangiers and later owned a coffee plantation in Kivu (Congo). This early exposure to African culture must have lit the spark of interest in African art which later developed into a passion. On his return to Belgium he met the famous dealer and collector, Jef Vanderstraete, whose infectious enthusiasm encouraged Freddy to become so absorbed by Tribal art that in the mid nineteen seventies he moved to New York to open a gallery specialising in African art. At F. Rolin & Co. Inc. on Madison Avenue he organised many shows and exhibitions including Traditional African Metalwork (1977), African Ivories (1978) and Luba Hemba (1979). He saw his role as bringing African art to the American people, an aim he stressed in his catalogue introductions, and he always considered himself a collector rather than a dealer. Freddy was not a businessman by nature and could never bring himself to buy an item simply for its commercial potential - he had to love the object to acquire it. The quality of the objects he bought is evident from the loans he made to major exhibitions, such as the impressive Bongo figures (lots 314 and 315) exhibited in Saragossa in 2000, published in the catalogue Objetos-Signos de Africa (recorrido Iniciato); and the Luba drum on two caryatid figures (lot 296) which formed an important part of the recent Antwerp exhibition, Frans M. Olbrechts 1899-1958 in Search of Art in Africa (2001). To many Baron Freddy Rolin seemed to be a nineteenth century man born a century too late. In addition to his passion for the visual arts, Freddy also loved food, wine, music and landscape gardening. At his home in the woods outside Brussels he spent years planning his garden with its vast number of carefully chosen heathers and other plants from aricaeceous species which suited the sandy soil. His house with its wonderful paintings, fine furniture and important Tribal Art was once described as a jewel box, where collectors were always made to feel welcome, plied with fine wines and delicious meals while the conversation around the table ranged far and wide, but never strayed far from art in one form or another. THE FOLLOWING LOTS OF BOOKS ARE SOLD NOT SUBJECT TO RETURN

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Seventy-nine Tribal Art auction catalogues, Sotheby's London and New York, 1968-1984 (79)

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Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

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