African Art and Culture: Selections from the Collection
ON VIEW
African Art and Culture presents objects from the permanent collection that represent the artistic production of over thirty societies spanning a broad geographical area stretching from Mali in the west to Mozambique in the east. Offering an introduction to the richness and complexity of these artistic traditions, such objects nevertheless illustrate but a small fraction of African culture.
The presentation of objects follows the four major geographical regions from which they originate: Western Sudan, Guinea Coast, Central Africa and Southern Africa. Within each region small clusters of objects illustrate powerful transcultural themes.
The display of ceremonial headdresses, musical instruments, commemorative carved figures, masks and other objects is intended to arouse the viewer’s admiration for the makers of these works, whose forms transcend history and embody layers of meaning that need to be discovered if we are to understand the richness of the cultures from which they came.
Generous support for African Art and Culture is provided by the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art and the Purchase College Foundation.
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
African art has been an integral part of the permanent collection since the Neuberger Museum of Art opened in 1974. In 1999, the collection nearly doubled in size with the major gift of 153 works from the late Lawrence Gussman, a notable collector and resident of Scarsdale, New York.
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