Art premier

Kiiappak mask, Greenland, Inuit (Quai Branly Museum, Paris)

Fang mask used for the ngil ceremony, an inquisitorial search for sorcerers. Wood, Gabon, 19th century.

Date: 18th century. Geography: Nigeria, Court of Benin. Culture: Edo peoples. Medium: Brass, iron. Dimensions: H. 13 1/8 x W. 9 3/8 x D. 10 3/8 in. (33.3 x ...

South Arabian stele Alabaster, 1st millennium BC (20.3 cm) The stele depicts an abstract face with carved eyes, a long nose, and a small fleshy mouth; above, an inscription in Minaic gives the name…

This white-faced maiden is sometimes mistaken for a character from the Japanese Noh theater. It is from the Musee du quai Branli and is one of the best Punu masks I have ever seen. Think how this highly abstracted sculpture would have shocked European artists in the late 19th century. The Punu were originally part of the Luango kingdom of Angola in the 18th century, and settled in south and southwest Gabon. In the Mukuyi society it represented a female guardian spirit in the funerary rites…

The DMA is one of the largest art museums in America, located in the nation's largest arts district in downtown Dallas.

This early 20th century portrait mask is from the Baule peoples of the Ivory Coast. Acquired by the Yale University Art Gallery.

Skull rack

Geometric motifs and symbols of ancient rock art, cave paintings and rock engravings such as the spiral found at Brú na Bóinne, and the kerbstones of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, in relation to the anatomical and neurophysiological characteristics of the human visual cortex. This neurophysiological approach will test the 'universality' hypothesis, and universals, and introduce the concept of 'neuro-aesthetics'. Comparing Irish megalithic motifs and hallucinations.