Mask (1) - Wood - GREBO - COTE D'IVOIRE / LIBERIA

These types of masks created by the Grebo, represented the spirits of the invisible world, residing in the forest. These are very rare to find in the collections of European museums. These masks are related to the Bété. However, their iconography and size are very different, Grebo masks can measure up to one metre. With two to ten tubular eyes framing a long thin nose, these pieces have strongly inspired the cubist work of Picasso at the early 20th century. Masculine masks with geometric shapes are often recognisable thanks to their long nose, framed by two or several pairs of protruding eyes in a tubular form, sometimes threatening in appearance. The features of the feminine mask are smoother, more harmonious and more serene. This mask has belonged to Bob Gazel, a renowned collector of African art. Former adviser to the minister of finance of Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso, his private collection is among the biggest ones in the world, with more than 2500 objects of African art from different countries and ethnic groups. Collection date 1967, its antiquity is presumed to be much older.