LA COLLECTION HOTZ Over the past 30 years Dennis Hotz has formed an outstanding collection of Tribal art, distinguished by a sophisticated sensibility and built with a passion for the vitality of great sculpture. The collection is displayed in a deliberate discourse alongside a collection of 20th-century Modern and Contemporary art from Picasso, Dubuffet, Soulages, César, Arman and Fontana. The genesis of the Tribal art collection was in 1983 when Hotz attended the Sadruddin Aga Khan's sale of Tribal art in London. He was profoundly struck by the sale's display of the diversity and artistic range of African art and he was moved to develop his own private collection of important Tribal works of art. His focus deepened with the landmark exhibition of the dialogue between Tribal and Contemporary art at MoMA in 1984 organized by William Rubin, Primitivism in 20th century art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern. Hotz was inspired thenceforth to articulate in his collecting the raw talent and energy of Tribal art alongside its influence on the Modern masters. The visual impact of that exhibition set Hotz on an intellectual and aesthetic quest to recreate that same dynamism and exceptional level of quality and intricacy within his own art collection. One only has to compare major works by Picasso and Braque before and after their exposure to Tribal art. This occurred in Paris through their fellow artists Maurice de Vlaminck and André Derain (both had important early collections of Tribal art), through their visits to the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, and through friendships with ground-breaking amateurs such as Paul Guillaume and Charles Ratton. As early as l907, Picasso visited the Trocadéro and wrote: "All alone in that museum with masks, dolls and dusty mannequins; Les Demoiselles d'Avignon must have come to me that very day, but not because of the form, because it was my first exorcism painting". The Tribal art is like a thread through Hotz's paintings collection, binding the influence of Tribal art to its relevance beyond Picasso. It deeply inspired latter 20th century artists such as Arman, but in a different way, as much theoretical as formal. One looks at the important Kota works of art within Hotz's collection, with their highly planar and architectural forms that are plated and stapled with fine sheets and strips of varied metals, and understands why Arman was wildly inspired by this iconic African sculptural form. As Hotz's passion for Tribal art grew, his eye became more finely tuned through a process of education, exposure and good advice. The early works he acquired were few and acquired ad hoc, not always matching the quality of the paintings. By the mid-1990s he shifted his approach, determined to acquire the best and most sophisticated examples of their type. At the same time, he stayed true to himself by acquiring only pieces that spoke to him. The collection is lyrical in its pairing of stunning and dynamic pieces such as the aforementioned Kota works (lots 196 and 197) and the highly cubistic Dogon female figure (lot 183). At the same time, Hotz acquired a Dan mask (lot 190), also from the Goldet Collection, that is hauntingly beautiful through its plaintive expression and encrusted surface. This is another "tough" piece: it is a characteristic of Hotz's later selections in both paintings and Tribal art that he eschews what is too easy on the eye. One tires of the pretty, he says. Hotz's collection is alive. He feeds it with well-chosen works of art that create a sophisticated and delicate balance. Mixing things, be it schools, periods or tribes, has allowed him to extend the boundaries. Staying within one category has never been stimulating enough for him. Dennis Hotz continues his passion for African art with the beginning of a with a collection of contemporary African paintings. Historical Perspectives within the Hotz Collection At the heart of Dennis Hotz's well-chosen collection lie the names of some of the most important and influential collectors and dealers of African art in Paris - Vérité, Ratton, Goldet. The Vérité Collection was sold in Paris in a record-breaking sale in 2006 (Enchères Rive Gauche, Collection Pierre et Claude Vérité, 17 June and 18 June 2006, Alain de Monbrison and Pierre Amrouche, experts). The fanfare that accompanied this sale is inversely related to how the collection lived heretofore. Amazing treasures were kept just quietly within the realm of the family. Pierre and Suzanne Vérité began their dealings in African and Modern art in the 1930's. Though Pierre and Suzanne and, later, their son Claude and wife, Janine, maintained their gallery at the same time as all of the well-known names in the Paris and international art-world - Guillaume, Ascher, Graham, Brummer - they preferred discretion to fanfare. The collection was sort of time capsule. As with many great French collections, works of art from Mali, Ivory Coast and Gabon, resonated. The fine Bamana Kore Suruku mask (lot 181) was collected by Claude Vérité in Mali in 1951. The Dan Bagle mask, Ivory Coast, formerly in the Vérité Collection (lot 189), ancient and rich in symbolism, is a superb example of this classic form. The keystone work of the Hotz collection, a masterpiece by a Kota artist of the 19th century, was part of Charles Ratton's collection as early as the 1940s. After Paul Guillaume in the 1930s, Charles Ratton (1895-1986) was the most famous and influential Parisian dealer in African art. He was instrumental in creating the language of African art as art which still today effects the way we view and classify African works of art. His career began in Paris in the 1920's as an antiques dealer in furniture, medieval sculptures and paintings. Shortly thereafter, he opened another gallery dedicated to African art. A true tastemaker and avant-garde in his approach, he also developed exhibitions on Surrealist art in the 1930s, for example. His expertise and refined sensibility was at the core of every important exhibition, publication and private collection from the 1920's onward. He worked with André Derain, André Breton, Paul Eluard and Louis Carré to name but a few. Two of the greatest collections of African and Oceanic art ever assembled -- the Helena Rubinstein Collection and the Josef Mueller Collection - were created in large part with his guidance. His influence was trans-Atlantic as one of the primary sources for sculptures exhibited at the landmark show at The Museum of Modern Art in 1935 in New York -African Negro Art. At the same time, he worked with Pierre Matisse to organize exhibitions of African and Oceanic art at his gallery in New York --a revelation at that time in the United States. We see Ratton's influence again in the 1950's as the source for many objects seen in ground-breaking film Les statues meurent aussi (1951-53) by Alain Resnais and Chris Marker and which features the Ratton Kota (lot 197). After Charles Ratton, this magnificent Kota figure was acquired by Hubert Goldet (1945-2000). A consummate Parisian collector, the celebrated sale of his African collection took place in Paris in the summer of 2001 (François de Ricqlès, Collection Hubert Goldet, Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July 2001, Alain de Monbrison and Pierre Amrouche, experts). Extraordinary objects passed through his hands - a Luba neckrest which now seen at the Louvre (Collection du Musée du Quai Branly, inv.70.1999.9.1) and the Mbete Reliquary figure collected by Aristide Courtois (ex-Charles Ratton, René Rasmussen) now in the Barbier-Mueller Collection (inv.1019-86), for example. Classically beautiful and aesthetically challenging works wrestled together in his collection. Such was his passion for African art, he is famously said in 1979, "Today, if I were to no longer collect Tribal Art, I think that I would not collect anything". S.K. Dennis Hotz et moi nous sommes rencontré il y a environ une quinzaine d'années. Il possédait déjà à l'époque deux importantes sculptures du Cameroun acquises à la fin des années 1970 lors de la vente Saddrudin Aga Khan. Elles l'ont quitté depuis. Important collectionneur d'art moderne, Dennis Hotz décide alors de s'entourer de sculptures et masques africains. Une collaboration étroite et amicale de conseiller et de marchand s'installe entre nous. Son goût est d'une extrême justesse, son regard exigeant et original. Seule l'émotion esthétique compte. Nos rencontres épisodiques à Londres sont pour moi autant de moments de richesse intellectuelle, de réflexions sur l'art, sur l'évolution et les dangers de ce monde. Depuis quelques années Dennis Hotz, fondateur de la revue Art Review, se passionne maintenant pour l'art contemporain africain. Lors d'une récente visite à la galerie, j'ai pu constater que Dennis n'avait pas encore fait son deuil de l'art africain. Il ne serait pas surprenant qu'il ne soit de nouveau entouré de quelques nouvelles découvertes africaines. I met Dennis Hotz about fifteen years ago. At that time, he already owned two important Cameroon figures acquired from the Saddrudin Aga Khan sale at the end of the 1970's. They have since left his collection. An important modern art collector, Dennis Hotz decided to purchase African masks and figures. As a result, a close and friendly advisor- dealer association was established between us. He has exacting accurate taste and his look is demanding and original. Only aesthetic emotion matters. Our sporadic meetings in London were for me moments of intellectual richness, of reflections on art, and on the evolution and the dangers of this world. A few years ago Dennis Hotz, founder of the Art Review magazine, became passionate about contemporary African art. During a recent visit to the Gallery, I could see that Dennis had not yet made his piece of African art. It would not be surprising to me if he is again surrounded by a few new African discoveries. Alain de Monbrison

CIMIER BAMANA, CIWARA

MALI

Details

CIMIER BAMANA, CIWARA
Mali
Largeur: 58 cm. (23 in.)

Provenance

Vente Tajan, Paris, 20 mai 1999, lot 221

Further details

BAMANA ANTELOPE HEADDRESS, CIWARA

Lot Essay

Voir Colleyn, J.-P., et al., Bamana, The Art of Existence in Mali, Gand, 2001, cat.222 pour un cimier de la région Beledugu formée également d'une antilope oryx et d'un pangolin et conservé dans une collection privée.
Le décor finement gravé rappelle sur le corps les écailles du pangolin. Ces cimiers apparaissaient lors de compétitions agricoles, de cérémonies festives ainsi qu'à l'occasion d'une fête annuelle. La courbe des cornes répond à la courbure du corps. Ces objets sont habituellement fixés sur de petits paniers en osier. Seules les pièces archaïques reposent sur une calotte de bois.

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