The collection continued to grow in African art with the addition of objects from the Sandro Volta collection and the George Ortiz collection, while others were acquired in the course of his travels to Africa with Franco Monti.Īmong the Oceanic works offered for sale is a splendid mask from Vanuatu, Southern Pentecost Islands (estimated at € 75,000 to 90,000).

The most extraordinary item is a rare female statuette from Easter Island (estimated at € 250,000 to 350,000). In the 1970’s, Monzino added significantly to his collection by acquiring a number of exceptionally fine pieces, including a group of objects from the English collector, James Hooper. Monzino purchased the major part of the Epstein collection in 1963, including a dazzling array of Maori tiki figures (estimated between € 5,000 to 7,000 and € 15,000 to 25,000) and the male statue from Easter Island (estimated at € 80,000 to 120,000). In 1953 he published ‘The Art of Primitive Peoples’ noting he «built up a collection from an ethnographical point of view but was gradually attracted by the artistic qualities of these objects.»Ī well-informed collector with a passion for fields as diverse as Japanese art, contemporary art and Pre-Columbian art, Monzino purchased his first Pre-Columbian art object in 1958 before devoting himself to African art two years later. Unlike Epstein, and later Monzino, Hooper’s main interest in Oceanic art was ethnological rather than aesthetic. His collection consisted of the most outstanding examples of Melanesian, Polynesian and North American art. He also organised exchanges with dealers and collectors, such as William Oldman and Kenneth Webster, as well as buying at auction houses like Steven’s or Glendining’s in London. Despite his limited means, he succeeded in creating one of the finest private collections by scouring flea markets and small antique shops in rural England. While he never left Great Britain, he concentrated on Oceanic art. Some sculptures have now become veritable icons in the field such as the superb Lega ivory mask in (estimate € 26,000 to 37,000) or the well known group of Fang figures now in the Dapper Museum in Paris. The major pieces of his collection were exhibited in the «The Epstein Collection of Primitive and Exotic Sculpture» at the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1960, and were reproduced in several publications. During these years, he bought from Louis Carré and Charles Ratton, and in London from Webster, as well as from auction sales such as the famous Walter Bondy Collection sold at Sotheby’s, London in 1930. He expanded his collection throughout his life, especially in the 1930s.

Later Epstein made his first purchase from Joseph Brummer, one of the first Parisian dealers in African and Oceanic art. The formal characteristics were to become a determining factor in his artistic career, providing a source of inspiration for his future work. It was during his visits to Paris in the early years of the 20th century that he discovered this new form of art. Jacob Epstein, like Picasso or the Fauvists – especially Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck – began collecting African art around 1905, well before it attracted art dealers and private collectors. One of the most important British sculptors of the early 20th century, he was also a passionate collector of African and Oceanic art. Most of the works in this collection are objects acquired by the English artist, Jacob Epstein. While Epstein was one of the first collectors to appreciate African art as art, Hooper collecting in the 1930’s and 1940’s, was fascinated by Oceanic art at a time when other collectors only considered African art. In the early period, Epstein’s encounter with non-western art was focused purely on aesthetics, neglecting the context of the societies that produced them. Jacob Epstein and James Hooper started to show an interest in African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art in the first half of the 20th century. It will be the first sale in this field at Sotheby’s Paris, and we plan to develop this category further in France.» This collection, which includes objects of excellent quality, was entrusted to us for auction in Paris. The collection was built up from a succession of three famous collections belonging to Jacob Epstein, James Hooper and Carlo Monzino.Īccording to Jean Fritts, Director of the Department of Sotheby’s and responsible for the sale, «Sotheby’s has long occupied a dominant position in sales of African and Oceanic artworks. PARIS, FRANCE.- Exceptional artworks constitute this private European collection - 106 lots from Africa, the South Pacific, and Central and South America.

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