[Ancestral Figure, Head, Gabon]
Many twentieth-century European and American artists collected African masks and sculptures, which they prized for their formal qualities and for their seeming challenge to the traditions of Western art. The Fang masterpiece known as "The Great Bieri," portrayed by Evans in profile was once part of the large collection amassed by British sculptor Jacob Epstein. This object is now in the collection of the Metropolitan (1979.206.229).
Artwork Details
- Title: [Ancestral Figure, Head, Gabon]
- Artist: Walker Evans (American, St. Louis, Missouri 1903–1975 New Haven, Connecticut)
- Date: 1935
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 24.5 x 19.3 cm. (9 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gift of Samuel and Marilyn Stern, 1992
- Object Number: 1992.5074
- Rights and Reproduction: © Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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Betsi-Fang artist
19th century
Walker Evans
1935
Walker Evans
1945
Walker Evans
1928–29
Walker Evans
1928–29
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