Description

Mask representing a human face pigmented in two colors, the top part is a yellow ochre and the details of the face are colored in red.

Created with the utmost artistry, this mask represents a human face, in striking realism. Pigmented in two colors, the top part is a yellow ochre while the details of the face are colored in red. The eyes and the nostrils are almond-shaped, and are created of circular perforations in the wood. The open mouth is in the form of a crescent, with the points turning downward. The lips are drawn, encircling this shape. At the back of the mask there is a double hoop in wicker, on which eight white feathers rest, bordering the face of the mask.

According to the archives at the Heye Foundation, this little mask represents Akasta, the sun, and is originally from the region of Bethel, on the south side of the Kuskokwim river. The beautiful quality of the sculpture, as well as the exceptional artistry that this mask holds, is an exquisite account of the Kuskokwim culture. [Auction catalogue, 2003]

 

Bibliography

- Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, André Breton, La beauté convulsive, 1991, rep. p. 375 (photo Sabine Weiss, 1956, dans l'atelier)
- William Rubin, Primitivism in XXth century art - Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1984, rep. p. 578
- Alain Jouffroy, « La collection André Breton », L'œil, n° 10, octobre 1955, rep. p. 34

Languages	French
Physical description	Bois tendre, polychromie rouge et blanche, plumes, fibres végétales, patine d'usage
From / Provenance	Ancienne collection A. H. Twitchell, Heye Foundation n° d'inventaire 09/3411, échangé avec Julius Carlebach le 10 mars 1945.
Place of origin	Rivière Kuskokwim, Alaska, États-Unis
Size	26,70 x 29,20 x 3,80 cm
Breton Auction, 2003	Lot 6171
Keywords	Mask, organic items, Ceremonial Art, Northern People
Categories	Native Americans, Etnographical Art, Inuit Yup'ik Art
Exhibition	Moon Dancers : Yup'ik Masks and the Surrealists
Permanent link	https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100396920

Description

This mask with a distorted face, property of a shaman, was used during ceremonies of evocation and the representation of spirits, which could inspire a state of trance and premonitory vision in the shaman.

The form of the oval face is concave-convex. The eyes are asymmetrical, one being round, the other in the form of a slit. Sculpted at one corner of the mouth is a sea otter, at the other, a whale; the middle of the mouth holds a salmon. The peripheral decoration of the mask is made of four plumes. On the front are three little spear points in wood. The ears are replaced by moving hands, of which the fingers have been painted red. The black line painted on the back of the hand was there to chase away the evil spirits. At mid-cheek, are two little arms. The chin is decorated with two wooden hooks and a little seal on a pike. Inside the mask, a bit allowed the dancer to hold the mask between their teeth.

A similar mask is conserved in the collections of the Glenbow Museum in Canada. [Auction catalogue, 2003]

 

Exxhibitions

- Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, La Révolution surréaliste, 2002
- Düsseldorf, K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein - Westfalen, Surrealismus, 1914 - 1944, 2002

 

Bibliography

- Un masque très similaire figure dans les collections du Glenbow Museum, Canada. Cf. Lynn Ager Wallen, The Face of Dance - Yup'ik Eskimo mask from Alaska, Glenbow Alberta Institute, 1990, plate 1, p. 21

- Alain Jouffroy, « La collection André Breton », L'œil, n° 10, octobre 1955, p. 34 et 37

- William Rubin, Primitivism in XXth century art - Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1984, rep. p. 578

- Paris, Musée National d'Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, André Breton, La beauté convulsive, 1991, rep.p. 74 (photo dans le studio new-yorkais, 1945) ; rep. p. 76 (photo Sabine Weiss, 1960, dans l'atelier) ; rep. p. 375 (photo Sabine Weiss, 1955, dans l'atelier, L'œil n° 10, 1955).

- D. Ellis, Art of the Arctic : Reflections of the Unseen, London, 2015 (photographies pp. 7 and 29)

Languages	French
Physical description	Bois, polychromie rouge, verte et blanche, plumes.
From / Provenance	Heye Foundation n° d'inventaire 12/0921, achat du Musée, échangé avec Julius Carlebach en juillet 1944.
Place of origin	Alaska, États-Unis Goodnews Bay, Alaska, États-Unis
Size	39,40 x 43,20 x 15,20 cm
Breton Auction, 2003	Lot 6161
Keywords	Mask, organic items, Ceremonial Art, Northern People
Categories	Inuit Yup'ik Art
Exhibitions	La Révolution surréaliste, 2002 , Moon Dancers : Yup'ik Masks and the Surrealists , Surrealismus 1914-1944
Permanent link	https://cms.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100862850

See also