For This World and Beyond: African art from the Fred and Rita Richman collection

Genre : Exhibition

From wednesday 18 december 2002 to monday 09 june 2003

Times : 00:00
Column : Fine arts

This exhibition consists of nearly 100 works, many of which have never been displayed before at the High. The collection reveals African arts' social relevance and its spiritual significance. Half of the objects on display are promised gifts from Fred and Rita Richman, longtime art collectors and High Museum supporters, while the remaining half of the exhibition is comprised of objects generously given by the Richmans to the Museum over the past three decades.
The exhibition centers around six themes: "Honoring the Ancestors," "Music, Divination and Healing," "Negotiating Gender Politics: Masks, Men and Women," "Functional Forms: Art and Daily Life," "The Social Self: Initiation and Investiture," and "Two Together: African Art, Human Forms." According to Carol Thompson, The Richman Family Foundation Curator of African Art, "The collection consists of works of art that vary from humble objects made for daily use to awe-inspiring masks and figurative sculptures made to honor and maintain communication with the ancestors. The exhibition will demonstrate how art serves many purposes in Africa-from educating youth to mediating relations between men and women to tapping divine power."
Made primarily during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the works originate from across the African continent. A key object in the collection is a 100-year-old pair of figures made by a Fang sculptor. The boldly geometric forms found in Fang sculptures served as an inspiration to artists of early 20th century Paris, including Henri Matisse and Constantin Brancusi.
Presenting an inventive array of approaches to representation of the human form, the section, "Two Together," focuses on one of the distinctive features of the Richman Collection. Throughout their collecting, the Richmans, who collect not only African art, but art from many different times and places, have made the theme of "couples" a special focus.
Fred and Rita Richman are long-time art New York art collectors who have been committed supporters of the arts in Atlanta since the 60s. In 1972, they presented the High Museum with a group of 240 works of African art from their collection. In 2001, they endowed the Museum with funds to create an African Art department, and the Richman Family Foundation Curator of African Art was appointed that year. Subsequently, the Richmans made their entire African art collection a promised gift to the High. Michael E. Shapiro, the Nancy and. Holcombe T. Green Jr. Director, states, "The Richman's long-standing support of arts in the South has enabled Atlanta to experience a wonderful and diverse collection of African Art. This exhibition celebrates the Richman's generosity to the High Museum, as well as to Atlanta."
Carol Thompson was appointed in September 2001 as the first Richman Family Foundation Curator of African Art. Throughout Thompson's 25-year commitment to African Art, she has taught both undergraduate and graduate level courses at several institutions, and authored a variety of publications, including The African Art Portfolio: An Illustrated Introduction, Masterpieces from the Eleventh to the Twentieth Century. She brings to the High Museum extensive curatorial experience in African art, specializing in the art of Burkina Faso. This exhibition, organized by the High Museum of Art, aims to introduce the diversity and richness of African art to the Southeast. Photographs, as well as audio and video components will be integrated into the exhibition to help visitors better understand the many contexts in which these objects were made, and the purposes they served. An exhibition portfolio, entitled For This World and Beyond: African Art from the Fred and Rita Richman Collection, by Carol A. Thompson will further contextualize the works of art. Related programming during the exhibit will include a film series, lectures, family programs, gallery talks and more.

Information / Venue


( 2002-12-18 00:00:00 > 2003-06-09 00:00:00 )
1280 Peachtree Street at 16th Street.
Atlanta
United States




Venues

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Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of