A scene representing an idealized family. - Lot 85

A scene representing an idealized family. Certain iconography, such as the woman's ochre color or her scarification marks, still bear witness to an ancient tradition, and it's obvious that this sculpture is the work of an excellent artist, a great sculptor in the Gouro tradition. However, the presence of the dog and the scene as a whole are like a family photo, and do not correspond to a traditional sculpture, nor are they the usual statues sculpted by the thousands since the beginning of the last century for colonial circles, decorative crafts, copies and other fake objects of traditional inspiration. This sculpture is part of the vast, still vaporous area of "colonial art", an art born of encounters, a mixed-race object with hybrid functions, a masterpiece of its kind, a still image, a true photograph. Gouro, Ivory Coast Wood, pigments, age cracks, restoration to base (broken-glued) original piece H. 38.5 cm See: Impressions d'Afrique Homme Blanc Homme Noir, A. Weill, Fondation Pierre Arnaud, Ed. Favre 2015 and L'Art dit Colon, Alain Weill, Ed. Albin Michel 2021 Provenance: Jean Roudillon Collection (acquired 1965)