Exceptionnelle figure masculine, Groupe Ewa, Rivière Korowori, Moyen Sepik, Papouasie Nouvelle-Guinée

collects ée par le Dr. Philip Goldman
Ancienne collects ion de la Famille Goldman, Londres
collects ion Marcia et John Friede, New York

Wear consistent with age and use within the culture. Some hairline cracks, erosion along the right edge of the face, and chips to the lower lip, all visible in the catalogue illustration. The three end points missing on the right shoulder, also visible in the catalogue illustration. The lower part of the projecting torso section has been broken in two parts and repaired and glued using the original piece. No restoration.
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En 1968, l'exposition The Caves of Karawari, organisée à la D'Arcy Galleries - galerie new-yorkaise du marchand d'art Maurice Bonnefoy -, connut un « retentissement considérable », révélant à un large public une centaine de sculptures inédites Yipwon des Yimam, ainsi que les grandes figures masculines Aripa des Ewa voisins.

Celle-ci, unique à la fois par sa dimension et son état de conservation, relève du type masculin – rare. Sculpté pour être vu de profil, le personnage repose sur une jambe unique, le torse ajouré en une succession de formes dentelées caractéristiques, les motifs ornementaux rehaussés de pigments ocre-rouge et blancs. Très belle tension dans les courbes du visage, accentuée par les lignes serrées de la veinure apparente du bois dur.

Comme les Yipwon de grande dimension, les figures Aripa représentent des esprits de la chasse. Elles sont conservées dans la partie sacrée de la Maison des hommes, puis déposées à la mort de leur propriétaire dans des abris sous roche ou des grottes, servant de lieux de culte ou de commémoration (Kaufmann, 2003: 98). Préservées des pluies tropicales, elles font partie des sculptures les plus anciennes de la région du Sepik.

cf. Kaufmann (2003 : 32) pour un exemplaire très proche conservé au Museum der Kulturen de Bâle, acquis en 1968 à la D'Arcy Galleries, et exposé en 2009 à la Fondation Beyeler, au regard d'une œuvre sur papier d'Henri Matisse (Beyeler, 2009 : pl. XI n° 7).

An exceptional male figure, Ewa Group, Korowori River, Middle Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

These large scale Ewa figures were essentially unknown to art historians until the second half of the 20th century. In 1968, the exhibition The Caves of Karawari at the art dealer Maurice Bonnefoy's D'Arcy Galleries in New York made a 'considerable impact' upon the public, revealing one hundred or so hitherto unknown Yiman Yipwon figures, together with male Aripa figures from the neighbouring Ewa people.

Rarely found in such a tremendous size and state of preservation, this male figure was carved to be seen in profile. Resting on a single leg, the openwork chest is executed in a succession of characteristic notched forms, the raised decorative motifs highlighted with white and red ochre pigments. There is a beautiful tension in the curves of the face, which is further accentuated by the tight lines of the grain of the wood.

As with the large Yipwon figures, Aripa figures represent hunting spirits. They were kept in a sacred part of the men's ceremonial house, and after the death of their owners were placed alongside them in rock shelters or in caves, which were then used as places of worship or commemoration (Kaufmann, 2003: 98). Thus preserved from the tropical rain, these figures are amongst the oldest sculptures to have come from the Sepik Region.

cf. Kaufmann (2003: 32) for a closely related example acquired from D'Arcy Galleries in 1968 and now in the Museum der Kulturen, Basel, exhibited in 2009 at the Beyeler Foundation alongside works on paper by Henri Matisse (Beyeler, 2009: pl. XI, no. 7).