[MSN] African mask sold for $7.5m

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African mask sold for $7.5m
18/06/2006 17:10  - (SA)   
 

Paris - A celebrated 19th century mask by the West African Fang tribe
fetched more than $7.5m at auction in Paris, a record for a work of
primitive art, organisers said on Sunday. 

The mask, which is said to have inspired artist Pablo Picasso, brought four
times its estimated price of $1.9m on Saturday, organisers of the sale at
the Drouot auction house said. 

The buyer was not disclosed. 

The mask was part of one of France's premier private collections of
primitive art, which was on the block at Drouot this weekend. 

Begun by Pierre Verite and his son Claude in the 1920s, the collection
features works mostly from France's former colonies in West and Central
Africa. 

Though it was kept out of public view for most of the 20th century, the
collection made a big impression on celebrated artists such as Picasso,
Henri Matisse and surrealist Andre Breton, who saw it in the 1930s. 

More than 500 pieces were on the block and were estimated to bring in
between $19m and $25m. 

Of 96 pieces sold on Saturday, eight passed the mark of $1.27m, said
auctioneer Muriel Berlinghi-Domingo. 

"Prices are soaring in this sale, which is perhaps the last of this
importance," she said. 

"As this is a historic collection, and many of the objects have almost never
been displayed, we're seeing a lot of competition." 

France will soon inaugurate the Musee du Quai Branly, a major new museum
championed by President Jacques Chirac that will house the country's large
and until now scattered collection of primitive art.