A HIGHLY PRAISED COLLECTION OF AFRICAN ART HAS RECENTLY (10-10) GONE ON VIEW IN NEW YORK.20-Oct-97ARMAND ARMAN (AHR 'MAHN AHR 'MAHN) IS MORE THAN AN ARDENT COLLECTOR OF AFRICAN ART. WHEN IT COMES TO THE MASKS AND STATUARY OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, THE FRENCH-BORN AMERICAN ARTIST IS A CONNOISSEUR.
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY OF THE 400 OBJECTS MR. ARMAN HAS COLLECTED SINCE 1957 ARE ON NOW DISPLAY IN NEW YORK AT THE MUSEUM FOR AFRICAN ART. THE EXHIBITION IS ENTITLED "AFRICAN FACES, AFRICAN FIGURES."
THE MUSEUM FOR AFRICAN ART, LOCATED IN A ONETIME STORE IN LOWER MANHATTAN, FEATURES HIGH CEILINGS AND WHITE WALLS. IT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS A SNUG LITTLE MINIATURE OF A MUSEUM.
THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MUSEUM'S CURRENT EXHIBIT, THE 69 YEAR-OLD ARMAND ARMAN, EMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1961. HE IS A SCULPTOR AND A PAINTER OF SOME NOTE. LIKE MANY OTHER ARTISTS, HE IS ALSO AN ART COLLECTOR. HE CALLS HIMSELF "A PACK RAT" (A SAVER OF EVERYTHING), HAVING ALSO GATHERED COLLECTIONS OF JAPANESE ARMS AND ARMOR, RARE BOOKS, OCEANIC AND ABORIGINAL ART, AND SUCH ITEMS AS OLD RADIOS, CARS, HANDGUNS AND PENS.
ARMAND ARMAN SAYS HE HAS SELDOM PAID MONEY FOR AFRICAN ART. INSTEAD, HE BARTERED.
I'M LUCKY ENOUGH MY FATHER WAS AN ANTIQUE DEALER, AND FOR THAT I HAVE A CERTAIN SENSE OF WHETHER ANY KIND OF MATERIAL IS REAL OR NOT. I HAVE A KIND OF SECOND NATURE THAT HELPS ME TO CHOOSE. ON A FEW OCCASIONS I PAID THE PRICE FOR THE PIECE THAT I WANTED. BUT ONLY ON A FEW OCCASIONS. I TRADE. I GIVE TWO PIECES FOR ONE PIECE. I DIDN'T SPEND THAT MUCH MONEY TO MAKE THAT COLLECTION. BUT A LOT OF TIME, A LOT OF CARE AND A LITTLE BIT OF KNOWLEDGE. KNOWLEDGE HELPS A LOT. I DIDN'T MAKE SOME INCREDIBLE DEAL BY BUYING SOMETHING FOR FIVE DOLLARS IN THE FLEA MARKET AND IT'S A MASTERPIECE. BUT I MAKE TRADES. I GATHER OTHER OBJECTS BECAUSE I COLLECT SEVERAL THINGS. I COULD SELL OR GIVE TWO ANCIENT CARS -- I WAS COLLECTING CARS-- FOR ONE PIECE THAT I LOVED.
ONE OBSERVER SAYS ARMAND ARMAN'S COLLECTION "HAS MYTHIC STATUS IN AFRICAN ART CIRCLES, WITH SEVERAL WORKS CONSIDERED MASTERPIECES."
THE FOCUS OF HIS COLLECTION, DISPLAYED AT THE MUSEUM FOR AFRICAN ART, IS CARVED WOOD FIGURES AND MASKS, WITH A PREFERENCE FOR THE ART OF THE KOTA, PUNU AND FANG PEOPLES ... FROM GABON.
THIS IS A FANG FIGURE. THOSE FIGURES WITH A BACK DOME WERE PLACED ABOVE A CONTAINER WHICH HAD INSIDE THE SKULL OF AN ANCESTOR, FOUNDER OF THE TRIBE. AND THOSE PIECES WERE THE GUARDIANS, SITTING ON THAT BOX. AND THEY HAVE A CERTAIN CONCENTRATION, VERY DYNAMIC, VERY CONCENTRATED. AND THE FACE OF THOSE GUARDIANS HAS A CERTAIN AUTHORITY.
ARMAND ARMAN HAS MADE SEVERAL TRIPS TO AFRICA, BUT HE SAYS HE HAS NEVER BROUGHT BACK ART OBJECTS FROM THERE. HE SAYS HE OBTAINED ALMOST EVERY PIECE IN HIS AFRICAN ART COLLECTION WHILE IN HIS NATIVE FRANCE.
I WOULD SAY THE LARGEST BODY OF WHAT WE CALL AFRICAN ART IS NOW IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. AND IT'S NOT SO BAD, BECAUSE CONSIDERING CONDITIONS, THE POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS CHANGES, I WILL SAY THAT IF WE DIDN'T COLLECT, OR WE DIDN'T BUY ALL THOSE OBJECTS, 80 TO 85 PERCENT OF AFRICAN ART WILL HAVE DISAPPEARED, DESTROYED BY MAN OR DESTROYED BY ELEMENTS. IN 1961, DURING THE BIAFRA WAR, A VILLAGE CALLED CLAN OF ORON WAS BEEN TAKEN DURING FIGHTS BY NORTHERN ASWAN WARRIORS. AND THEY WERE DEVOUT MUSLIMS, AND THE VILLAGE WAS AN EXAMPLE OF CONFIGURATIONS, SCULPTURES, ARTIFACTS THAT HAD BEEN KEPT FOR MORE THAN 200, 300 YEARS. OVER ONE DAY, EVERYTHING WAS DESTROYED AND BURNED BY MAN.
THE COLLECTOR'S INSTINCT STILL LIVES IN ARMAND ARMAN, BUT THESE DAYS HE SPENDS LESS TIME ON COLLECTING, MORE TIME ON PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. MR. ARMAN HAS INSURED HIS COLLECTION OF SUB-SAHARAN ART FOR 10-MILLION DOLLARS AND FORMED A FOUNDATION TO HANDLE IT AFTER HIS DEATH.
MR. ARMAN SAYS: "THIS COLLECTION DOES NOT BELONG TO ME ANYMORE. I AM THE MERE CUSTODIAN OF THESE MAGNIFICENT OBJECTS."