Art For Sale Archive - Page 4 of 49 - Oceanic Arts Australia

A Superb Old New Guinea Shield Asmat People Irian Jaya West Papua Todd Barlin Collection

A Superb Old New Guinea War Shield from the Asmat People on the Upper Elianden River area in Remote Eastern Asmat Area, South Coast West Papua (Indonesia), Early 20^th Century

This beautiful old shield with striking deeply incised circular designs & highlighted with red and white ochre. The back of the shield has a fine dimpled surface and an old patina from long use. The shield was most likely carved with stone tools, the people in this area of the Upper Eilanden & Brazza River were still using stone axes when I visited & were extremely excited to get steel axes, machetes & knives, at this time the upper Eilanden River area was a very remote place in and the people had little contact with the outside world and they spoke no Bahasa Indonesia and only came out of the forest to the riverside when they heard outboard engines on canoes hoping to trade for steel axes. No missionaries had tried to convert them yet as they were still living nomadic and free in their forest & built houses in the tree tops for protection both from other tribes and also from mosquitoes who don’t live up in trees.

The physical protection of Shields is only one aspect of their use, shields in New Guinea also play an important ceremonial role & often are the vessel for ancestral spirits and often have a personal name that can be invoked to overpower an enemy. Shields are often kept in Men’s ceremonial houses along with ancestral relics, old shields are family heirlooms and often have an oral history to them, the owner & their clans’ men often can tell you about every particular arrow or spear embedded in the face of the shield, they know the stories of each battle who might have been wounded or killed & how their shield with its ancestral power frightened or stunned their enemies so that they could be easily overcome.

The main Asmat creation myth is about the creator Fumeripitjs who was lonely so he carved figures from wood and then he made a drum, when he played the drum the carved wood figures came to life and that is how the first Asmat people were created. For the Asmat the connection between trees and people and the forest is profound.

This shield has always been my favorite shield and has been in my home since it arrived from the village.

Provenance: Collected by Todd Barlin 1985-86

Published: The Shields of Melanesia by Crawford House Press 2005 Page 161 Figure 6.8 (above)

Exhibited: The Shields of Oceania 2000 Sydney College of the Arts at Sydney University at the Pacific Arts Festival for the 2000 Sydney Olympics (see photos below)

Exhibited: Oceanic Arts Pacifica: Oceanic Art for the Todd Barlin Collection 2014 Casula Power House Arts Centre Sydney

See my new EXHIBITIONS GALLERY showing the Museums and Art Galleries Exhibitions that I provided artworks for over the past 40 years. There is the link to the article about my artworks published in the prestigious Louvre Magazine in 1996

I have artwork for Museums and art Galleries but also for collectors at every stage of their collecting. I want to encourage people to explore the fine art of New Guinea & West Papua and the Pacific Islands and to be able to see and touch the artworks in a relaxed and friendly manner in my Sydney Gallery. I would like to invite you to visit my gallery and see the artworks in person and also look at my website www.oceanicartsaustralia.com where there are many Galleries & Sub Galleries to explore.

My Gallery of nearly 40 years is the last physical gallery in Sydney that specializes in New Guinea and Oceanic Art. Sydney is very close to New Guinea & the Pacific Islands where all of these amazing artworks came from, Australia’s closest neighbours.

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Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Clubs from the 19th Century Australia

Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Clubs from the 19th Century ( these can be sold as a collection of fice or individually)

Australian Aboriginal Clubs come in many shapes & sizes from the many language groups across the continent of Australia. Clubs were mainly made for hunting or warfare but also used for dance & ceremonies.

Some varieties were used for hand-to-hand combat, and smaller, lightweight throwing clubs which were employed in both warfare and hunting. Throwing clubs were projectile weapons hurled at human enemies or game from a distance to strike an incapacitating blow. Like many clubs, this work has a pointed, bulbous head intended to deliver a powerful blow to the target. The shaft and head are adorned with incised designs. These might have been purely decorative, but, like many designs in Aboriginal Art, they had deeper cultural significance.

Large boomerang-shaped Clubs from South Australia are some of the most beautiful large clubs.

Here you see Clubs from various areas like South-eastern Australia, Queensland & Central Australia, each club is beautiful & unique.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia and The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art

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A Superb Old Garuda Mask Himalaya Area India or Tibet

A Superb Old Garuda Mask Himalaya Area of India or Tibet

This beautifully carved old Garuda Mask has the most expressive face that is highly three-dimensional making it more sculptural than an average mask. The feathers on the top of the head are depicted as a crown showing its spiritual importance.

Historically, from classical Indian mythology, Garuda was originally an ancient Hindu sun symbol, half vulture, half-man, who served as the vehicle of the god Vishnu and his wife, Lakshmi, and lived on a diet of Nagas (snakes).

It is not known exactly how old the Garuda is, but from the beginning of the universe, Vishnu, who maintains order, rides a Garuda. The Garuda’s body can grow to cover the whole sky or shrink to the size of a canary. Most of the time, the Garuda appears with the body of a bird with a human torso.

In Buddhist belief, Garuda became the vehicle of Vajrapani and, paired with a twin, the symbol of the transcendent Buddha Amoghasiddhi.

Garuda is yet another form in which various buddhas arise to remove disease and injury caused by Nagas and poisoning. Metaphorically the worst ‘poisons’ are desire, hatred and ignorance.

When the Garuda devours snakes and swallows the poisons of delusion, jealousy, and hatred, and then can transform them into renewed strength, illuminating his body and stretching his wings even more to soar into space.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Garuda is seen as a protective image decorating doorways and talismans. We can also see the Garuda as one of the four dignities—the four creatures representing the qualities of lungta, or the Wind Horse, one for each cardinal direction: Garuda in the north; Snow Lion in the east; Tiger in the south; and Dragon in the West (in some regions, the directions may change).

They are commonly depicted on lungta prayer flags, which flutter in the wind in high places so that the prayers written on them can be spread to the whole world. The Garuda is also a yidam, especially in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, which prescribes important specifications about his colour and implements so that the practitioner can visualize the Garuda completely.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia & The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Asian Art

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A Superb Japanese Carved Wood Bonito Tuna for Fisherman’s Shrine

A Superb Japanese Carved Wood Bonito Tuna Fish made for a Fisherman’s Shrine by the Master Carver Ushioda Kousai (1909-1981)

Since the Kamakura period (1185–1333) Tuna Fish has been worshiped by fishermen, in the Nakiri area as a local deity with the legend of Dandarabotchi remains, and a straw sandi-hiki ritual is held every September to pray for a big catch of Tuna. It is also often used as an offering in Tosa Province’s shrine Ema Offering a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku where prayers for a big catch, good harvest, prosperous business, and good luck.

This superbly carved statue of a Bonito Tuna Fish is carved to approximately two-thirds of the real Bonito Fish. The dynamic yet realistic lacquering and fin formations represent the thoughts and prayers of the fishermen who struggle with Bonito every day when fishing. The Sculpture has a spirit that seems to have been carved into it. This is a masterpiece filled with sensitivity and faith, with lovely round eyes and a slightly open mouth that show the observational eye of a fisherman.

A large, plump, and splendid bonito. Not only do you feel the warmth that only wood carving can provide, but It also has tension and feels heavy. The dull & glowing fish-like colours are also beautifully reproduced. This is a work that perfectly expresses the power of swimming vigorously through water.

Provenance: Carved by the Master Carver 潮田皓哉Ushioda Kousai (1909-1981) He studied wood carving under master sculptors Keiun Kato and Masahiro Sawada, both of whom were students of Koun Takamura, and followed the lineage of Koun Takamura, the king of modern wood carving, with a solid style that valued traditional carving and was active and recognized at Japan Fine Arts Exhibition and Shinkaijusha Exhibition for a long time.

The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Asian Art This Sculpture comes with an appraisal box with a signature.

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Eight Beautiful Colour Drawings by Fritz Klee (1876 – 1976) Signed & Dated 1955

Eight Beautiful Abstract Colour Drawings by Fritz Klee (1876 – 1976) Signed & Dated 1955

These magnificent abstract organic hand drawings are ornamental compositions in bold, bright colours by the German artist Fritz Klee.

Professor Fritz Klee (1876 Würzburg – 1976 Stuttgart), was a German porcelain designer and architect, founding director, and long-time professor at the State Porcelain School in Selb. In 1910 Fritz Klee designed the exhibition space at the World Exhibition in Brussels. In 1911 Fritz Klee was appointed Royal Bavarian Professor because of his outstanding achievements. From 1917 to 1922 Klee was also the artistic director of the porcelain factory art department at Lorenz Hutschenreuther A.G., for which he made a large number of designs until 1939. In 1939 Prof. Fritz Klee left Selb and the college for the porcelain industry at his own request after 31 years of hard work and success. he moved to Stuttgart with his wife Frieda. But that was not the end of his work, after this time numerous graphics were created by him, at the age of 99, the professor still practiced drawing and creating brightly coloured collages daily. Prof. Fritz Klee was 100 years old and died on December 12, 1976, in Stuttgart Germany

I bought these drawings for myself as I am always looking for vintage modern artwork that goes well with my Oceanic Art Sculptures, old and new look amazing together just as they do on the Surrealist Andre Breton’s Office Wall now on permanent display at the Pompidou Centre in Paris

Provenance: Fritz Klee (1876 – 1976) & The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art

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A Superb Old Cubist Sculpture by by Japanese Artist Katsumi Koremasu Signed & Dated 1966

A Superb Old Cubist Sculpture by Japanese Artist Katsumi Koremasu Signed & Dated 1966

See more fine Japanese & Asian Art from my collection Here https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/asian-art/

This finely carved Cubist Sculpture by the Japanese Artist Katsumi Koremasu, dated 1966. You can see the cubist influence of Picasso and other early 20th-century Western Artists in this fine Sculpture. Carved from a single piece of hardwood, the two heads; one on the right playing flute and the figure on the left appear to sing with his mouth open, and his eyes are shown at different angles & sizes.

是松勝美 Katsumi Korematsu Born in (1931) Okayama prefecture, Japan

Graduated from Bunka Gakuen Art Department

Musashino Art University Carving Department

Member of Jiyubijutsu (Free Art) Association – Tokyo

Art Works Exhibited in

Matsumura Art Gallery – Nipponbashi, Tokyo

Nabisu Art Gallery – Ginza, Tokyo

Akasaka Gallery Sanko – Tokyo

Cubism is a Modern art movement that emerged around 1907 in Paris, France. Four important characteristics of Cubism are the application of multiple perspectives, the use of geometric shapes, a monochromatic colour palette, and a flattened picture plane.

Cubism’s novel handling of form, colour, and perspective signalled a shift from the existing conventions of European modernist painting. Cubism reimagined the treatment of form by rejecting the traditions of perspective, modelling, and foreshortening. The result of this method was a heavily abstracted composition that represented the subject from all angles or with overlapping picture planes.

Cubists intended to depict the entire structure of objects and people in their paintings without using techniques such as perspective or graded shading to make them look realistic. They wanted to show their subjects as they were rather than create an illusion of an object or person.

The use of linear perspective and the illusion of depth favoured by the Renaissance movement were in stark contrast to the two-dimensionality that Cubists worked to define. Cubist artists depicted their subjects from multiple perspectives simultaneously, working to represent every angle of the subject on the flat surface of a canvas and within a single picture plane.

Cube-like imagery, as well as other geometric forms like cones, spheres and cylinders often appear in early Cubist paintings and again later in the movement in Cubist sculptures. Cubists felt they could portray a subject’s form more accurately by using geometric shapes to represent its various sides and angles. The use of geometric shapes replaced techniques such as perspective and shading, which also emphasized the two-dimensional flatness of the canvas

Provenance: Old Japanese Collection & The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Japanese Asian Art

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A Superb Abstract Metal Sculpture ” Twisted by Fate”

A Superb Abstract Metal Sculpture ” Twisted by Fate”

This beautiful Steel Sculpture was a found object, an accidental sculpture created when a building was demolished. I was visiting someone & I saw it lying under their table and immediately saw it as a sculpture and asked if I could buy it. I knew what it would look like standing up on a custom base. It’s not only the beautiful form but also the rusted patina & wear that add to its beauty.

After I acquired the sculpture I had it wrapped in brown paper & carried around while visiting friends, even wrapped in brown paper it looks like a sculpture or a piece of wild ginger root.

You can decide for yourself on its aesthetics as an artwork. Many people from the art world who have seen it in my gallery all had the same feeling as myself, it is a great sculpture

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic Art

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A Superb Collage Sculpture “Many Faces” by Japanese Artist Mr. Okada Noboru better known as “The Strange Knight “

A Superb Collage Sculpture “Many Faces” by Japanese Artist Mr. Okada Noboru better known as “The Strange Knight “

This beautiful collage sculpture is comprised of many individual carved wood faces that are put together in a mosaic, each of the expressive faces shows all ranges of emotions and are in different sizes & shapes.

This artwork reminds me of the many masks & faces I have collected in Oceanic Art over my lifetime.

Noboru could be considered an Outsider Artist as he was self-taught and seemed to mostly make artwork for himself. Okada lived a life of strangeness and solitude, as his artist name suggests, however, about 20 years ago, he decided to leave the city and open his own Mask Museum, whenever he appeared in public, he would wear his own masks to avoid the eyes of others; he lived as a masked man with about 20 rescued cats.

Okada’s private museum was located in Nasu Highlands in Tochigi Prefecture in Japan, he has more than 20,000 original masks that he made from scrap materials on display inside the museum, and covering the entire outside building in masks and sculptures. The museum was closed after he died in 2018.

It is thought that the masks Okada creates are a kind of assemblage in which daily necessities and discarded items are reassembled, and the familiarity of the materials used brings him closer to the viewers.

Provenance: Made by Okada Noboru circa 1988 and was exhibited in the 1989 Kanazawa Crafts Award Japan

The Todd Barlin Collection of Oceanic & Asian Art

Okada Noboru Artworks Exhibited in Public Exhibitions in Europe

The Collection de l’Art Brut – Lausanne, Switzerland “Art Brut from Japan, Another Look – November 30, 2018 Through April 28, 2019”
https://www.artbrut.ch/en_GB/exhibition/japan-another-look

The Outsider Art Fair – Paris Oct 2020

A SELECTION OF WORKS FROM THE OUTSIDER ART FAIR –PARIS

Art Brut from Japan, another Look – November 2018 to April 2019

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A Fine Collection of Antique African Passport Masks West Africa

A Fine Collection of Antique African Passport Masks West Africa

Most Dan face masks genre, and those of the culturally related groups of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia, are commonly executed in a miniature form, ranging in height between 6 and 20 centimetres.

Even the largest miniatures are too small to be worn in front of the face, and they rarely exhibit any means by which they may be attached to anything. The most common mask type represented in such a diminutive form is deangle (attractive mask with slit eyes, performs a feminine behaviour)

Miniature masks bear many names: the most common is ma go (small head), but depending on scholarship it has also be named gba po (thing which is fed), or nyonkula (substitute for the ancestors). Echoing the variety of names, they fulfill a variety of functions. Anyone who has a spiritual connection with a mask, or whose family owns an important mask, is entitled to commission a miniature. Rubbed with oil and food, they are wrapped up and kept on the owner’s body or among his possessions and function as portable and personal forms that share the power and protective force of the full-sized mask.

Miniature masks are carved to embody tutelary spirits and serve as testimony to the presence of the spirit associated with a large masquerade. When a mask-owner is travelling, the miniature mask serves as an important means of identification outside his immediate community. This role that may have given it the commonly applied name of “passport mask.”

Diviners can advise individuals to commission a miniature mask for preventative, protective, or curative purposes.

In addition to being the property of one single individual, in certain instances miniature masks may also play a communal role in secret societies. They are among the sacred objects displayed at men’s society meetings to protect the men collectively, and can be shown to new initiates. On these occasions they are interpreted to be representations of the benevolent spirits associated with the most important masquerades of the area. They are used as sacred objects for taking oaths and for swearing to tell the truth.

Whether personal or collective, miniature masks must be fed regularly to remain strong and able to help their owner. Food may be simply set before it, or the offering, such as rice or oil, may be rubbed or poured onto it. On special occasions a sacrificed chicken’s blood is spilled onto the mask. The range of offerings and use explain the variety observed in the miniature’s patinas.

Provenance: Many Old Collections from Europe & North America. The Todd Barlin Collection of African & Oceanic Art

Sources
Fischer, Eberhard and Himmelheber, Hans. The Arts of the Dan in West Africa. Zurich: Museum Rietberg, 1984
Grootaers, Jan-Lodewijk and Bortolot, Alexander, Eds. Visions from the Forests: The Art from Liberia and Sierra Leone. Exh. Cat. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Seattle and London: The University of Washington Press, 2014
Johnson, Barbara C. Four Dan Sculptors: Continuity and Change. Exh. Cat. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986
Vandenhoute, Pieter-Jan, 1938–1939 unpublished field notes, as cited by Claessens, Bruno in Refined Eye, Passionate Heart: African Art from the Leslie Sacks Collection. Amanda M. Maples Ed. Milano, Italy: Skira, [2013]

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To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

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Three Antique African Amulet Figures Lobi People Ivory Coast & Songye People Congo

Three Antique African Amulet Figures; two from the Lobi People of the Ivory Coast & Songye People from the Congo

These three small African Amulet Figures are small-scale artworks but BIG in sculptural beauty, each figure was selected by me because of their aesthetics and age. The two amulet figures on either end are from the Lobi People called bateba phuwe and are from Ivory Coast or Burkina Faso both West African Countries, Lobi artists are renowned for their realistic figures; the one on the far left has a large navel poking out and has a beautiful old patina from long handling. The other Lobi Amulet on the far right, is a male figure in classic Lobi style, and it also has a beautiful old patina from long use.

The middle figure is from the Songye people, sometimes written Songe, who are a Bantu ethnic group from the central Democratic Republic of the Congo. The people of Songye believe in a supreme being Ele-ife, however, he is not praised as much as ancestral spirits. Ancestral worship is very prevalent within Songye culture, it is believed that the spirit of their ancestors is more accessible to them due to their shared experience of being alive, as a result of this, these spirits have a connection to both the land of the living and the dead and can enact their will on the community via ancestral images like this little figure

I bought these little African Figures because of their aesthetics and age and I wanted to see how they looked displayed with my small Oceanic Artworks, they all look amazing together. There is something very special about small-scale artworks when grouped they become something more, a family of small artworks, a collection,

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of African & Oceanic Art

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If you have a similar “object” for sale please contact me for the best price and honest advice by a Government approved valuer

To see many more rare items and the finest masterpieces, please make an appointment with us to visit the gallery.

For all inquiries, please contact us

Archives: Art For Sale

A Superb Old New Guinea Shield Asmat People Irian Jaya West Papua Todd Barlin Collection

Superb Old Australian Aboriginal Clubs from the 19th Century Australia

A Superb Old Garuda Mask Himalaya Area India or Tibet

A Superb Japanese Carved Wood Bonito Tuna for Fisherman’s Shrine

Eight Beautiful Colour Drawings by Fritz Klee (1876 – 1976) Signed & Dated 1955

A Superb Old Cubist Sculpture by by Japanese Artist Katsumi Koremasu Signed & Dated 1966

A Superb Abstract Metal Sculpture ” Twisted by Fate”

A Superb Collage Sculpture “Many Faces” by Japanese Artist Mr. Okada Noboru better known as “The Strange Knight “

A Fine Collection of Antique African Passport Masks West Africa

Three Antique African Amulet Figures Lobi People Ivory Coast & Songye People Congo

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