Bla mask from Yohouré, Ivory Coast, acquired before 1942 by Josef Mueller, photo Studio Ferrazzini Bouchet

Founded in 1977 in the old town of Geneva, Musée Barbier Mueller houses one of the leading collections of African art in the world. The new show on Yohouré sculpture is the occasion to publish a book based on 46 years of studies of this Ivory coast tribe by Alain-Michel Boyer.

The collection was started by Josef Mueller (1887-1977), an orphan who was taught about modern art by a father’s friend. Very early on, he buys paintings by Hodler, Cézanne, Matisse and moves to Paris in 1920 where he discovers African art. His amazing collection was added on by his son in law, Jean-Paul Barbier, a bibliophile, who opened the museum in 1977, being an avant guardiste in this field.

Feminine facial mask, Gouro, bichrome,© Studio Ferrazzini Bouchet.

After a presentation by Alain-Michel Boyer, a very versatile Professor of comparative literature in Nantes, who taught in Abidjan for three years in 1974 and studied anthropology at Harvard, the visit of the exhibition was as always in this magical museum, a moment of great pleasure.

The Youhourés live in the center of Ivory Coast, with many neighbouring tribes, the Gouro and Baoulé, the Sénoufo, Dan, and Dida. Masks and wooden statues from this area have been collected by Occidentals for a century but only now are their art studied. Fondation Barbier Mueller is publishing the research.
All statues refer to dances and rituals linked to death. These masks are perceived as dangerous and cannot be seen by women who face sterility or death.
If you are in Geneva, do not miss this show. (Until April 30, 10 rue Jean Calvin)

Feminine figure of pɔrɔ, Sénoufo, coll. Josef Mueller, Collected by Father Convers en 1951. © Musée Barbier-Mueller. Photo Studio Ferrazzini Bouchet.

« Eclectique » at Musée du quai Branly Jacques Chirac in Paris is an illustration of an opposite collecting attitude. There is talk of Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, donating the African part of his collection to the Museum. It is a quickly acquired (in ten years) mix of aesthetical Greek and African sculptures with a little bit of modern art on top. I admired as always a pretty Vieira da Silva painting but the many previous owners of each piece show an accumulation of expensive acquisitions and lack a true soul. (Until April 2)