A selection of the finest pieces of Dogon art collected by Lester Wunderman.

Art of the Dogon Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection

Ezra, Kate

Arts & Photography

Metropolitan Museum of Art

<p>For more than 500 years, the artists of the West African kingdom of Benin created objects in brass, ivory, terracotta, and wood for use in divine kingship rituals, to adorn the royal palaces, and to identify the king, chiefs, warriors, and other officials at court. This volume presents a recent gift to The Metropolitan Museum of Art of over 150 works of Benin sculpture, making the Museum's collection of sixteenth- to nineteenth-century Benin art one of the most comprehensive in the world.<br>Among the objects--many reproduced in full color--are brass heads depicting past kings and queen mothers, free-standing brass figures, exquisite plaques, insignia of office, cast brass and carved ivory bracelets, carved elephant tusks, personal ornaments, musical instruments, court furnishings, and more. Black-and-white and color photographs of related objects and actual ceremonies help place the collection within its cultural and historical context.<br>An introduction provides background on the history, art, and culture of Benin, and the illustrations are accompanied by expert commentary that summarizes the latest research on Benin art. A special section is devoted to the brass and ivory arts of the nearby Yoruba kingdoms of Owo and Ijebu, which were heavily influenced by Benin.</p>

Royal Art of Benin The Perls Collection

History & Criticism

Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman collection

The sculpture of the Dogon people of Mali constitutes one of the richest artistic traditions of West Africa and is a highlight of the Metropolitan Museum's permanent collection of African art. This handsome book features sixty-three of the finest pieces of Dogon art collected by Lester Wunderman, several of which have been donated to the Museum's permanent collection. The text incorporates the most up-to-date research and thinking on the complex subject of ritual art and on the context in which Dogon sculpture was originally produced and used. Each piece has been especially photographed for this volume and is accompanied by a detailed discussion of its function, style, and significance. Also included are maps, a bibliography, and more than eighty photographs, some of them taken in the field by Eliot Elisofon and Lester Wunderman.(This title was originally published in 1987/88.)

Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection

<p><div>&nbsp;(This title was originally published in 1991/92.)</div></p>

Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection

Africa is enormous—more than three times the size of the continental United States—and the art produced in this vast land reflects its rich and varied culture. Yet African art, perhaps more than any other, is widely misunderstood. Far from being "primitive," it represents a highly developed aesthetic expressed by accomplished professional artists who have complete mastery over their materials and techniques.The study of African art is in its infancy, and Westerners are only beginning to learn the complex system of symbols embodied in the carved, cast, and painted objects that altered the course of modern art early in this century. Most African art is functional, with decoration that is often secondary. Many objects are made to express and support fundamental spiritual values essential to the survival of the community. Much African art serves a directly religious function—as tribute to a spirit or as a diviner's aid. Some objects insure fertility, not only in humans, but in crops, game, and livestock as well. Cultural traditions are transmitted across the generations through works of art used in rites of initiation. Other art is political in function; images of kings proclaim their wealth and power; the possession of a crown, for example, can prove the legitimacy of a leader's succession. The arts also serve politics in the objects created for use by the men's societies that govern many villages.The 150 objects discussed and illustrated here are from the collection of Paul and Ruth Tishman, whose interest in African art began more than twenty years ago. Since then, the Tishmans have constantly refined their collection, which now contains the full range of African sculptures, from delicate sixteenth-century Sherbro-Portuguese ivories to boldly conceived wooden figures from Cameroon (front cover).For Spirits and Kings presents the art of six major regions south of the Sahara: the Western Sudan, the Guinea Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Africa, Central Africa, and the Southeast. Susan Vogel, curator of African art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has contributed a valuable general introduction and a brief essay on the art of each area listed. Outstanding examples of the art of each area are then illustrated with striking photographs and discussed by seventy-one eminent specialists from the United States, Europe, and Africa. Each author has written about objects in his area of expertise, and many writers have supplemented their texts with field photographs showing related objects in traditional contexts. The result is a splendid book that Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum, has called "an ambitious scholarly achievement, a veritable anthology of the most recent scholarship, . . . a major contribution to the field of African studies." [This book was originally published in 1981 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]

For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection

Vogel, Susan

Art of the Dogon: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Abrams

Shows examples of bracelets, pendants, rings, necklaces, bowls, boxes, stools, staffs, shutters, masks, and sculpture by the Dogon people of West Africa

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Harry N.Abrams, Inc.

<p>More than 150 works of sixteenth-to nineteenth-century Benin art with background on the history, art, and culture of Benin, and expert commentary on the objects.</p>

Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Harry N. Abrams

More than 150 works of sixteenth-to nineteenth-century Benin art with background on the history, art, and culture of Benin, and expert commentary on the objects.

Royal art of Benin: The Perls collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Distributed by H.N. Abrams

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Books by Ezra, Kate

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ezra, Kate. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Art of the Dogon Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection

Royal Art of Benin The Perls Collection

Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection

Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection

For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection

Art of the Dogon: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection

Royal Art of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art of the Dogon: Selections from the Lester Wunderman Collection

Royal art of Benin: The Perls collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art