This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Male Figure (Kaiaimuru)
Date:late 19th–early 20th century
Geography:Papua New Guinea, Papuan Gulf, Gibu village, Turama River
Culture:Turama people
Medium:Wood, paint, shell, fiber
Dimensions:H. 51 3/4 × W. 8 1/2 × D. 2 in. (131.4 × 21.6 × 5.1 cm)
Classification:Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1961
Object Number:1978.412.781
[Roy James Hedlund, Papua New Guinea, until 1961]; The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1961–1978
Museum of Primitive Art. "The World of Primitive Art," July 12, 1966–September 11, 1966.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of Oceania, Africa and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art," May 10–August 17, 1969.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
Shanghai. Museum of Art Pudong. "The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–August 20, 2023.
Doha. Qatar Museums. "The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 24, 2023–January 15, 2024.
Newton, Douglas. Art Styles of the Papuan Gulf. New York: University Publishers, Inc., 1961, pp. 16–17.
Newton, Douglas. New Guinea Art in the Collection of the Museum of Primitive Art. Handbook (Museum of Primitive Art), Vol. Handbook No. 2. New York: Museum of Primitive Art, 1967, unpaginated, no. 110.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969, no. 201.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 143.
Friede, John A. New Guinea Art: Masterpieces from the Jolika Collection of Marcia and John Friede. Vol. vol. 2. San Francisco: de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 2005, p. 165, no. 480.
Bell, Joshua. "Le Golfe de Papouasie." In Ombres de Nouvelle-Guinée: Arts de la Grande Ile d'Océanie dans les Collections Barbier-Mueller, edited by Philippe Peltier, and Floriane Morin. Paris: Somogy Editions d'Art, 2006, pp. 196–217, 420–24, 459–60. p. 212, 213, 214–16, 423, no. 112.
Robert L. Welsch, Virginia-Lee Webb, and Sebastian Haraha. Coaxing the Spirits to Dance: Art and Society in the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea. Hanover: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2006–2007, pp. 4-45. p. 16, 19.
Kjellgren, Eric. Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, p. 129, no. 79.
Kjellgren, Eric. How to Read Oceanic Art. How to Read 3. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014, p. 56.
Nuku, Maia. Oceania: The Shape of Time. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023, p. 156,pl. 90.
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
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.
The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.
