Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kristin Gelder
Tel. 212 606 7176
SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK TO OFFER
THE COLLECTION OF SAUL AND MARSHA
STANOFF ON MAY 17, 2007
ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTION
BRIDGING THE FIELDS OF AFRICAN, OCEANIC,
PRE-COLUMBIAN AND AMERICAN INDIAN ART
TO APPEAR AT AUCTION
Pictured here: Cameroon Bamum, Tungunga Head Crest , est. $600/900,000
New York, New York – On May 17, 2007, Sotheby’s New York will offer The Collection of Saul and Marsha
Stanoff, arguably the most important private collection bridging the fields of African, Oceanic, PreColumbian and American Indian art to ever appear at auction. Together the Stanoffs -- whose
collaborative eye earned them a legendary reputation in these fields -- shared a passion for the arts of
Africa, Oceania and the Americas for more than fifty years. The collection, which comprises a number of
major icons in the fields of African, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian and American Indian art, was installed in a
minimalist interior designed by Mr. Stanoff in their home in Los Angeles. The sale, comprised of 81 lots, is
expected to bring $4/5.7 million*. Separate various-owners sales of African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art (May
17, 2007) and American Indian Art (May 18, 2007) will also be held.
Saul and Marsha Stanoff
Born in New York City, Saul Stanoff (1917-2005) began his quest for beauty as a young boy when he was
struck by works of American Indian art at a museum with his school class. Mr. Stanoff recalled: “Even
when I was young I was able to appreciate quality and beautiful objects. It started with collecting
butterflies. I was a perfectionist...”
Saul met Marsha after he moved to her home town of Los Angeles, and their love and knowledge grew in
tandem, a synergy that was to characterize their collecting throughout their lives. The Stanoffs began
acquiring Pre-Columbian art in the late 1950s, stimulated by the vast array of West Mexican terracottas in
Los Angeles at that time. Their aesthetic fascination led to travel to Mexico City to see the regional sites
such as Teotihuacan in the early 1960s. From Pre-Columbian art, their interest expanded to include
American Indian and Eskimo art, and later, African art that today forms the largest part of the collection.
They began collecting African art around 1970, inspired by the collection of Katherine White (now in the
collection of the Seattle Art Museum) who lived in Los Angeles at the time: “she collected beautiful old
examples, and that was our first exposure to how great African art really is,” explains Mrs. Stanoff. Mr.
Stanoff continued, “African art has great sensitivity. It has presence. You
feel a bond with the artist. There’s a camaraderie that I feel between the
piece, me, and the artist who created it. When an artist puts that much
feeling into a piece, it hypnotizes me, the power and the emotion.” Their
passion for African art led to yearly trips to London, Brussels and Paris
to see pieces and learn, to attend the auctions and acquire.
The Collection
Two of the centerpieces of the Stanoff Collection are African objects
pivotal in the history of 20th century art. A magnificent Grebo mask
from Liberia with squared mouth, tubular eyes and a narrow triangular
nose (pictured here, est. $600/900,000) was previously owned by
modernist painter Maurice de Vlaminck. The artist claimed to have been
the first to collect African art as “art” and was also a close friend of
Pablo Picasso, himself an avid collector of African art; William Rubin,
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the organizer of the seminal exhibition, ‘Primitivism’ in 20th Century Art, at New York’s Museum of Modern
Art in 1984, suggested a direct influence of the mask’s counterpart, owned by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler
on Picasso’s synthetic cubistic phase (1912-1915) and, in particular, on his 1912 guitar sculpture today in
the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The mask descended through the Vlaminck
family and was subsequently owned by André Fourquet and Alain de Monbrison, both of Paris, before the
Stanoffs purchased it in the mid-1980s.
A Cameroon, Bamum, Tungunga Head Crest, one of only four of its type known to exist, is another
highlight of the collection (pictured on page 1, est. $600/900,000). The importance of this work lies not
only in its rarity but in its significance as a signature piece in the evolution of 20th century art. Formerly in
the collection of Vlaminck, the head crest still bears some splashes of paint that most likely came from the
artist’s brush when the piece was standing in his studio. Picasso, who Vlaminck counted among his friends,
took major inspiration from this head crest, which culminated in a series of sculptures executed around
1931, the most prominent representing his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. The head, consisting of five
semispherical forms of varying sizes, a protruding oval ring and two semicircles, abstractly represents the
highly expressive face of a Bamum dignitary with open mouth, puffed cheeks,
large bulbous eyes and dramatically arched brows. The sculpture would have
been worn on the head of a person who stood behind a Bamum chief,
impersonating the power and importance of the royal lineage.
A Magnificent Luba Stool from Democratic Republic of Congo,
previously owned by the legendary New York dealer Merton D. Simpson, is
among the most beautiful examples of Luba art (pictured here,
$500/700,000). Perfectly balanced, right
angles are formed at the elbows between its
gently-sloping shoulders and elongated arms which balance the seat on her
fingertips. The face, with a straight nose leading into semi-circular
eyebrows above drooping eyes and pointed lips, gives this sculpture a
dominant yet contemplative impact, distinguished by great symmetry and
refinement.
A Dogon Seated figure from Mali, formerly in the collection of John
Friede, New York, is one of the most striking known examples of the
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Bombou-Toro style of Dogon sculpture (pictured here, $70/100,000). The figure, a complicated structure
of fragile, attenuated limbs, is seated with knees raised and the right elbow resting on the knee, the right
hand reaching to the left knee, the left elbow resting on the same knee and the left arm leading up to the
hand supporting the head. The surface, covered with a crusty patina stemming from numerous sacrifices,
appears almost petrified. The sculpture, probably from the 18th century or earlier, has been interpreted to
represent a sick person with frail limbs. The Dogon do not believe in a natural cause for illness but
attribute it instead to curses or transgressions. Since the right hand touching the elbow can be seen as a
gesture asking for forgiveness, the representation thus reveals a dramatic and touching metaphor for the
self-imposed suffering of mankind.
Also on offer is a Superb Maori Tiki Figure from New Zealand made
from wood, with finely carved face and eyes made from haliotis, formerly
owned by Steven Alpert, Dallas. The fragment from the collar or
mouthpiece was part of a hue, a specially grown gourd used to hold meat
that was presented to honored guests during feasts amongst the Maori in
New Zealand in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The meat was
preserved in fat which explains the oily rich pigment of the figure. The
figure seated with diminutive feet and oversized head the left hand
supporting the right wrist and the right hand in front of the chest. The eyes
inset with mother of pearl (haliotis) and the face exquisitely carved, this is a
Maori carving of greatest rarity and finest quality (est. $40/60,000).
From the very beginning the Stanoffs found themselves drawn to small
objects, and many of the cornerstone pieces in their collection, for which
it has become world famous, are small in scale: “I’m attracted to beauty,
not rarity or size or a piece’s history,” Mr. Stanoff has said. Widely
published and exhibited, a signature piece of the collection is a
Spectacular Lega Wood Figure from Democratic Republic of Congo
(pictured here, est. $30/50,000), formerly owned by John Friede, New
York. The highly abstract and distinctly zigzag form of the body,
juxtaposed with delicate facial features, may be interpreted as a person
running both backwards and forwards at the same time. This dynamic
form stands in contrast with the melancholic serenity of the facial
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expression: with drooping eyes and pointed lips this representation of a spirit seems to whisper secrets
from another world into our ears.
A majestic Maya Standing Figure with Shield, Jaina, Late Classic, ca.
AD 550-950, is one of the finest examples of the stately warrior chiefs
renown in Maya society, as represented in the four Jaina figures in the
Stanoff collection (one pictured here, est. $150/200,000).
His mature
countenance is highlighted by fine details of facial tattooing; he holds a
massive shield modeled with an effigy face and wears an elegant vest and
sweeping feather headdress. A Maya Seated Dignitary, Jaina, Late
Classic, AD 550-950, wears a fleecy cape and deer headdress (est.
$50,000/70,000), and a Mayan Slender Standing Figure, Jaina, Late
Classic, AD 550-950 (est. $50/70,000), represents a youthful orator, with
long arms pulled back and poised as if in a ceremony.
The Stanoff collection includes one of the most unusual minimalist figures of Pre-Columbian art, from
Nayarit, West Mexico. The Chinesco Seated Figure, Protoclassic, ca.
100 BC-AD 250, is an icon of the Pre-Columbian style of abstract
interpretation of the human figure; the ultra slender figure sits with arms
folded on his raised knees; the simple curving lines of the body are
accented by perfectly proportioned triangular openwork areas (pictured
here, est. $150/200,000).
Saul Stanoff has said: “Because of its
emotionality and architectural form, I’m never bored contemplating this
piece from any angle.” The collection also includes a fine group of the
Chinesco cream-slipped figures, of Type E style, including a male
figure leaning on a backrest, a singular example of a figure in trance or
mediation. This figure and a seated female with a demure pose and
blackened eye mask were exhibited in Chicago in 1999 in the important
show Ancient West Mexico, Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past.
An Ancient Eskimo Sculpture depicting a human head is one of the most celebrated examples of its
type (pictured here, est. $50/70,000). The pointed chin, overhanging brow and long thin nose are classic
characteristics of the Okvik Period (circa 200 BC to 100 AD), as well as the rich, dark brown patina, a
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result of its burial beneath snow and ice for centuries. It is, however,
the highly sensitive and restrained carving of the master artist who
made this 2 ¾ inch piece that gives it a magical, almost super-human
quality and elevates it to world-class status. Mr. Stanoff notes: “A
small gem of an object never lies.”
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium
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