[Ancestral Figure, Head (Profile), Gabon]
In 1935, the Museum of Modern Art organized the groundbreaking exhibition “African Negro Art,” which displayed African sculptures as works of art valued for their formal qualities, rather than ethnographic objects. The minimal installation emphasized the sculptures’ influence on European and American artists at the time. The museum commissioned Evans to photograph the works on view for a series of portfolios. As he did throughout his career, Evans positioned the sculpture in a relatively tight composition and then trimmed the prints to achieve his desired effect. Although exhibitions like MoMA’s presented African and so-called “native” art as direct, unmediated expressions, these photographs reveal the extent to which such encounters were mediated by the viewer’s cultural position.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Ancestral Figure, Head (Profile), Gabon]
- Artist: Walker Evans (American, St. Louis, Missouri 1903–1975 New Haven, Connecticut)
- Date: 1935
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 24.2 x 15.1 cm. (9 1/2 x 5 15/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gift of Samuel and Marilyn Stern, 1992
- Object Number: 1992.5089
- Rights and Reproduction: © Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Walker Evans
1945
Walker Evans
1928–29
Walker Evans
1928–29
Walker Evans
1943
Walker Evans
ca. 1929
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.