Name: Auction: MENDE CLOTH SIERRA LEONE
Brand: Lyon & Turnbull
Price: 1875 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

African & Oceanic Art, Antiquities and Natural History

Sale number: 639The rich collection of African textiles offered in our May 2021 auction reflected the extensive aesthetic legacies that have permeated modern art and continue to influence contemporary art globally. The collection included textiles showcasing weaving and pattern styles from across Africa, with a strong focus on sub-Saharan and West African regions in particular. Early examples in the collection give a sense of the historical nature of the textile traditions represented, with pieces dating from the nineteenth century.It has long been noted that Western modernism was heavily influenced by African artistic traditions. Comparisons have often focused on Cubism’s links with African sculptural and architectural aesthetics. The wide-ranging traditions of African textiles in this collection can offer further visual connections woven throughout modern and contemporary art history. In this sense, the textiles come to represent enduring aesthetic legacies that have informed some of the most renowned artists.The varied aesthetics of African textiles continue to influence contemporary art globally. African American artist, Kehinde Wiley, draws on West African textile design in the patterned backdrops that encroach on his portraits of black sitters in an aristocratic style recalling Old Master paintings. British-Nigerian artist, Yinka Shonibare, uses the colonial legacy of Ankara fabric in his work to subvert Western art traditions and comment on globalisation and the construction of culture. Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui creates intricate cloth-like sculptures using thousands of shards of recycled aluminium bottle caps, which give the effect of shimmering patterned textiles whilst simultaneously embodying Western commercial influence in Africa. The appeal of African textiles for contemporary artists seems to be linked to their cyclical role in global commercial trade, which can serve to reflect experiences of diaspora communities and disrupt the linear history of Western modernism.The textile collection offered in our May 2021 auction included a number of pieces from the Kuba peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kuba textile tradition has begun to be linked to Western modernism, including through the exhibition, Kuba Textiles: Geometry in Form, Space, and Time, held at the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York in 2015. The quirky geometries that characterise the raffia cloth designs of Kuba textiles, as seen in lot 187, a Kuba skirt from the early twentieth century, predate the comparable whimsical forms in the well-known abstract paintings of Picasso, Klimt and Matisse. The artists may well have first come across Kuba textiles at African art exhibitions in Paris during the late nineteenth century.Beyond the examples of Kuba textiles, the collection featured numerous pieces from the Ewe peoples of coastal Togo and eastern Ghana, where the stripweaving technique has been perfected. Ewe designs like lot 210, an early twentieth century Ewe kente cloth, offer complex patterns with colour and form expertly balanced to create enveloping compositions. The visual language feels familiar and can begin to recall the vivid abstract geometries of Western artists Paul Klee and Hans Hofmann. Both Klee and Hofmann were influenced by Cubism and the colour palettes of artists like Robert Delaunay and Matisse. In making these links to Western modernism the artists were in turn heavily indebted to the visual languages of African art and textiles, given that they had informed these avant-garde European movements so strongly.Seeing the collection of textiles together shows the continuation of these seminal and enduring visual traditions over time and across different African regions. From the bolder colourful patterns to the subtler, intricate weaves of the more natural toned styles, the collection shows the ways in which African textile practice foregrounds various modes of artistic abstraction. Each textile offers a unique material link to modern aesthetics rooted in African design, with a continued legacy in contemporary art today.&nbsp;

Alexander Tweedy | Specialist, African Art & Antiquities | Lyon & Turnbull Auctioneers

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hand spun cotton and machine coloured thread, strip woven with a central weft float comb pattern

SIERRA LEONE

MENDE CLOTH

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Margin Scheme

MENDE CLOTH

SIERRA LEONE

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