Abstract:
Why did Cubists prefer African sculpture, while Dadaist and Surrealists preferred the arts of Pacific Islanders and American Indians of the Northwest Coast? Collecting Tribal Art answers this question, and will explain how sixteenth century “artificial curiosities” became ethnographic curiosities, then Primitive Art , and also explains Tribal Art. The main focus of the book is on the contemporary “social world of collecting Tribal Art” – collectors, dealers, museums, and entrepots where Tribal Art is exchanged including the competition among dealers and collectors to find the finest pieces, and the thrill of finding a rare treasure hidden among bric-a-brac.