[Ancestral Figure, Head, Gabon]

1935

Not on view

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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[Ancestral Figure, Head, Gabon], Walker Evans American, Gelatin silver print — [Ancestral Figure, Head, Gabon]
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