Coastal Ramu River Figure - Dream Piece #22 Dream Piece #22 Coastal Ramu River FigureSotheby’s New York, 22 November 1998Lot 33Sold for $35,650 Why do we collect art? Obviously for its beauty but that can’t be all right? There is also the notion that the object directly captures the creativity and genius of the artist and in Western art there is the idea of significance, meaning how did that work or the artist who produced it move our concept of art forward. Certain artists are deemed crucial to the history of art by how they changed our perception of what art is or can be. The actual art works of Monet, Cezanne, Picasso and Pollack are often fantastic in and of themselves, but they are also important for how each encapsulated that particular era and advanced the history of Western art. But what about Oceanic art? Yes, we love its beauty and its often mindboggling imagination but are we concerned with its significance? If so, its significance of what? We surely do not have sufficient scholarship to claim that a certain object or individual artist was crucial in progressing our understanding of Oceanic art history, right? So, what exactly is the significance of Oceanic art? There is of course the object’s original cultural significance, which was often enormous as figurative sculpture brought to life powerful ancestral or bush spirits. Spirits that had major influence over many life and death endeavors such as war, hunting, open-ocean voyages, the success of crops, etc. Only very, very rarely do we have firsthand knowledge of such local significance for a particular object. As a former field collector, I was sometimes lucky enough to hear accounts of how a piece was used, the name of the spirit it manifested and its specific role in the community. But for over 99% of the Oceanic art objects we encounter the type of cultural, ethnographic information we can link to the piece is very general and often barely educated guesses. For sure the object carries with it this original significance although the specifics of that power is unknown and hidden within. So for most Oceanic art objects its significance is rarely defined but in a sense more profound. Precontact South Pacific cultures were without a written language and as such, these objects are often the sole physical remains from their past and at the same time make visible the undeniable allure of that remote, vastly different belief system. For example, when I look at a great work of New Guinea art I am struck by its vitality that boldly asserts the object was once and is still alive. There is a visceral thrill in engaging with an early figure of New Guinea art with its presence inspiring both awe and dread—awe that the spiritual presence is still active and dread from its often aggressive intensity. Thus, in my opinion the significance of Oceanic art is the object being both a historical and spiritual augury from the distant past of a culture far removed from our own--whose significance increases in time and ideological difference from the present. As such, the older the object, the higher its potential for significance as I define it here. Which leads us to the present figure sold at Sotheby’s New York in 1998 as part of the Dr. Edmund Müller Collection. It is of course precontact and of unbelievable antiquity. Judging from the bulging forehead, slanted radiating eyes and evident nose ornament the figure comes from the coast between the Sepik and Ramu Rivers—probably closer to the Ramu. The sculptural form is straightforward but notice how all the edges are worn smooth and rounded by age, the hints of ritually-applied pigment and the obvious integrity of the patina—all confirming its archaic nature. But what separates this piece from all the other ancient Sepik/Ramu figures are those lovely eyes. The tiny white beads focus this spirit’s gaze like a laser beam from another world, reminding us that yes, it is from another realm, but it still sees you and knows you and no matter the enormity of distance in time and place between us we are still connected. A great piece of New Guinea art is not about how it changed the course of Oceanic art history but how well it collapses the perceived gap of time, geography and belief. How far that line between what that sculpture manifests and us can be stretched but still be undeniably linked? A figure like this tests those outer limits with such clarity and purpose—a piece of and from our dreams. And it did not go cheap. Back in November 1998 it sold for $35,650 which today would amount to around $65,000. This would seem a reasonable price but far, far less than its unquestionable significance demands in my opinion.
