Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (other)

Name:Museum of Fine Arts
Type:other
Street:465 Huntington Avenue
City:Boston
State:MA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational

Description:
The Oceanic collection consists of works by artists living in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. They date to the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century. The majority are from Melanesia, a group of islands northeast of Australia that includes New Guinea. Melanesian works are often expressive, characterized by bold carving, bright colors, and the incorporation of shells, fibers, and other natural materials in dramatic juxtapositions. Among the highlights are a wooden helmet mask from Witu Island, a basketry mask from the Sulka peoples of New Britain, and works from the Sepik River and Lake Sentani regions of New Guinea. Other works originated in Polynesia, the vast Pacific region bounded by New Zealand, Hawaii, and Easter Island. The Polynesian objects restrained, monochromatic, and characterized by delicate surface patterns include a Maori treasure box and feeding funnel from New Zealand, and a few objects from the Marquesas Islands, among them an elegant stilt step. The collection reflects the vision and commitment of William E. and the late Bertha L. Teel, who generously donated most of these works. The collection will grow in the future to include art from Indonesia, Micronesia and Australia, other important Oceanic regions.

There was not one single mention about this Oceanic Art collection in all Tiki Central.

From the collection

This one is for Bigbrotiki:

Object, Image, Collector:
African and Oceanic Art in Focus
Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Sunday, July 18, 2010

Charles Sheeler, "Six West African Figures," 1917-1919. Photograph, gelatin silver print. The Lane Collection.

By juxtaposing pieces from Africa and Oceania selected from private collections with photographs, “Object, Image, Collector” explores the complex intertwining of the histories of these objects, photography, and collecting. Objects from the African continent and the Pacific came to Europe and the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In their places of origin these objects may have served in rituals, denoted prestige, or have been utilitarian in nature, but they became endowed with different meanings after they arrived in the West, eventually metamorphosing from artifacts into works of art in the early decades of the twentieth century. How did this change in focus come about?

In a vibrant visual narrative, “Object, Image, Collector” explores photography’s role in the promotion and recognition of African and Oceanic objects as art. Three-dimensional works, among them figurative sculpture, masks, and utilitarian objects selected from twenty-one private Boston-area collections, some displayed in public for the first time, are complemented by images from several important photographic endeavors, among them projects by American modernists Charles Sheeler and Walker Evans. With examples of art books and teaching materials, the exhibition also demonstrates the impact of photographic illustrations on creating a classical canon of African and Oceanic art, and how collectors—and museums—regard them today.
Generously supported by the Bertha L. and William E. Teel Fund.

On 2010-03-25 06:10, Zeta wrote:
Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

From the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:

Dig the blue Tiki!

Art don't pay (to artists)

Aah, those crazy artists...

The MFA Boston is another one of those institutions that does an extremely good job
keeping up with modern technology and incorporating it into their online presence.

They have a very thorough and user-friendly interactive virtual tour of 23 pieces of the
Oceanic Art collection as well as a more traditional overview here:

http://www.mfa.org/collections/sub.asp?key=22&subkey=132

For those that just want a quick fix without going to the link, here are some additional examples...

And, the advanced search functions yield examples such as...

And...completely off topic....for any Musical Instrument geeks out there, the MFA Boston has one of
the most outstanding collections of historic instruments on the planet, particularly the keyboard instruments.

More here...http://www.mfa.org/collections/index.asp?key=27

There's even a section just for Oceanic Musical Instruments!!! http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_package=10102

Gracia JONPAUL!

More Gaugin from the MFA in Boston:

On 2010-04-07 06:53, Zeta wrote:
From the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston:


Mask used by the surrealists... Where is that old black and white photograph with two surrealists on a sofa while one of them is wearing it?