Adrian Schlag | Masks of the We

MASKS WE OF THE AND NEIGHBOURS ADRIAN SCHLAG TRIBAL ART CLASSICS 1

MASKS WE OF THE AND NEIGHBOURS ADRIAN SCHLAG TRIBAL ART CLASSICS

ADRIAN SCHLAG TRIBAL ART CLASSICS Membre de la Chambre Royale des Antiquaires de Belgique Membre de la Chambre Belge des Experts en Œuvres d’Art Membre du Syndicat National des Antiquaires en France 46 rue aux Laines B 1000 Bruxelles Belgium Mobile 0034 617 66 60 98 [email protected] www.tribalartclassics.com

SUMMARY Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 History.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Masks Dan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Dan Kran. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 We.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Passeport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Bete.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Bibliography.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

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Since my very beginnings as a collector and then a dealer of tribal art I was strongly influenced by the exhibition catalogues of the Rietberg museum in Zuerich. It were the famous books about the Lobi, Guro, Senufo and the Dan that made me dream about one day being able to possess objects from these tribes. Sculptures and masks with a provenance from one of these exhibitions stayed until today something very particular for me. Having had contact with Dr. Hans Himmelheber end of the 1990’s explains even more why the area of the Dan and We tribes always played a very important role for me. So I am glad that with this exhibition I finally can present a representative group of masks from the We and the neighbouring tribes. Adrian Schlag January 2022 5

HISTORY AND INTRODUCTION Long known by other names (Guere, Wobe, Kran), the We live on either side of the border between Liberia and the Ivory Coast. Touba l NEW-GUINEA Séguéla l New Ye l Man l Dan IVORY COAST Saint Paul Kran Sassandra Nuon Lake Buyo l Daloa Gbarnga l Wé Guiglo l Bete LIBERIA Guéré Saint John Bassa l Zwedru Cavally l Soubré Lobo l Buchanan Grebo Cestos l River Cess l Greenville Kru Sassandra l San-Pédro l l Barclayville NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN Harper l l Tabou Cape GULF OF GUINEA Palmas Central to the social life of the We, whose name means “the charitable ones”, is the family unit, each one led by a patriarch revered for his wisdom and wealth, who supervises the clans´s affairs, settles disputed, and oversees its rites and rituals. Theirs is regarded as a mask culture unlike other African societies which have none. Generally speaking we can classify the masks of the We into masks for entertainment and masks with social functions. 6

But further classification into “comedy beggar masks” (zroo gla), “song masks” (ble gla) or bravery masks (tehe gla) we don´t want to follow in this short introduction, because as Alain Michel Boyer states ” a mask can be identified on site, less by the shape of the face (the masks facial features) than by the appearance of the costume: size of the dress, number of layered skirts, headdress, colours. But it is the props held by the dancer that are the most indicative: sticks in the case of a dancer; a ladle (poh) for the “comedy beggar”, the tibia of an animal for a “hunter; a weapon for a “Bravery Mask” and so on.” (cf. Boyer, page 46) The mask can even evolve. Its very appearance may be modified; it is unusual for the object to be re-used as is, even if it is merely given new ornaments. Intervention, even minimal, is crucial: it is enough for the chicken down that adorned the zroo gla headdress (comedy beggar) a mask at the bottom ot the ladder- to be replaced by hornbill feathers for the mask to move up, change categories, and become a dehe gla (dance mask). After a few decades, following transfers from one generation of wearers to another, three, four and sometimes more, and with the benefit of other mutuation, it can rise even higher an acquire prestige . A change of colour, the addition of horns, fangs, extra eye, and there you have it: the mask´s function has changed as has its “personality” this elevation culminates in the mask becoming a gla klaha (great mask or attaining the highest rank, Ji gla (sacred mask). (cf. Boyer, page 46) 7

It was the bold sculptural forms of the We masks that first captivated Cubist artists in the West, and it comes as no surprise that Pablo Picasso drew frequent inspiration from these artefacts, thanks to their striking and diverse compositional inventiveness. But We masks also influenced the art of neighbouring peoples (Dan, Grebo, Bete), and are widely seen as a creative keystone for a vast cultural area that boldly defies all the borders imposed by the colonial mapmakers. (cf. Boyer, Alain-Michel, We, visions of Africa, 5 continents editions, Milan, 2019) For Harley, the Kran (as the We are known in Liberia) are “really half Grebo” (Harley 1950, p.42). 8 Without having spent time among the Grebo, P.J.Vandenhoute had already perceptively identified the

“striking and undeniable kinship” between We and Grebo masks which, “while not being even slightly reminiscent of the “classic” Dan style”, seemed to him to be dominated by a “pronounced tendency to pure abstraction”(Vandenhoute 1948, p. 35) (Boyer, page10) Grebo masks have a particular interest for the historian of modern art. It is one of the few cases where we know that the contemplation of a tribal object directly influenced a major modern artist in a way the the artist himself was conscious of and spoke about. The notion of the eye as a cylinder is what interested Picasso. Installation view of the exhibition “Primitivism in 20th century art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern” September 19 1984-January 15, 1985. Photographic Archive. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York. IN1382.8. Photograph by Kathrine Keller. Acknoledging the concept of Alain Boyer, which stops with the classical differentiation, the catalogue nevertheless classificates into different style groups. It starts with some examples of classical Dan masks, than the Dan-Kran area, Wobe, Guere and finally with three examples of the Bete style to finish with a sample of an exceptional Grebo/Kru mask. The choice of masks was done to document the influence of the We carvers in most of the neighbouring tribes. The variation from a core style is clearly visible in most of the selected masks. Is it almost impossible to do an exhibition about this topic without mentioning the collection of Charles Hug (1899-1979) whose collection was exhibited in the Rietberg Museum in Zurich in 1997 (Masken der We und Dan, Elfenbeinkueste, Die Sammlung des Schweizer Malers Charles Hug, Paris 1928-31) Hug assembled a group of masks which can be seen at photos from the exhibition “Transozeanische und 9 Negerkunst aus St. Galler Privatbesitz”, 1933 at the St. Galler Industrie- und Gewerbemuseum. This exhibition is almost repeating the pattern of Dan and Wemasks adding some samples from the Bete area. As a homage to Charles Hug and his fantastic collection, masks number 21 and 22 are included in this exhibition (Masken der We und Dan, Elfenbeinkueste, Die Sammlung des Schweizer Malers Charles Hug, Paris 1928-3, photo page 48)

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MASKS DAN 11

1 12

13

2 14

15

16

3 17

18

4 19

5 20

21

22

6 23

24

7 25

8 26

27

9 28

29

10 30

31

32

11 33

34

MASKS DAN KRAN 35

36

12 37

38

13 39

14 40

41

4422

MASKS WE 43

44

15 45

46

16 47

17 48

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