Tags for: African Master Carvers: Known and Famous
  • Special Exhibition

Helmet mask (Epa Orangun) (detail), presumably c. 1920. Carved by the Yoruba artist Bamgboye (1893–1978). Nigeria, Ekiti region, Odo-Owa village. Wood, pigment; h. 137.2 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund and Gift of Mary Grant Price, 1991.165.

African Master Carvers: Known and Famous

Sunday, March 26–Sunday, July 16, 2017
Location:  010 Focus Gallery
Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery

About The Exhibition

African Master Carvers: Known and Famous addresses the false assumption that all African artists who created tradition-based art were anonymous, even though few historical artists south of the Sahara are known by name, and biographical data about their training and life is scarce. Through fifteen stellar examples from different cultural regions in West, Central, and Southern Africa, the exhibition explores the lives and works of a select group of master carvers who enjoyed recognition and sometimes even fame during their lifetime. Also included are the artists’ biographies and, when available, their portrait photographs.