CAG on museums: West African art and the Fred Uhlman collection

In exploring the history of a collection of West African art, I’ve discovered a rather interesting story about its collector. In a previous post I talked about my interest in a collection that exists at the Hancock Museum, which was collected with artistic aesthetics in mind and not with an anthropological ethos (http://calianthropologygirl.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cag-on-museums-african-art-and-artistic_3.html).

Portrait of Fred Uhlman by Kurt Schwitters credit: TWAM

The collector is named Fred Uhlman, and the portrait shown of him above is by famous artist Kurt Schwitters, and belongs to the Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums service at the Hatton Gallery. Created in 1940 while both Uhlman and Schwitters were in an internment camp together on the Isle of Man after fleeing from Germany, this portrait is a departure from Schwitters’ more famous artworks and style.

Uhlman was originally a lawyer, but after he was forced to leave Germany he became a painter while living in Paris, which is also where he purchased his first West African art piece. He was interested in the works of Picasso and Modigliani who were influenced by African art, and so he also took part in the movement. He began to love African artworks for their aesthetic value and ability to ‘move him’.

Bambana N'tomo mask

Uhlman lived with his wife Diana in Hampstead in a house that became the centerpoint for discussions and meetings for the anti-Nazi Free German League of Culture group, which he founded. Despite these anti-Nazi activities, he was interned in the Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man where he met many German artists. He continued to collect African art and before his death he donated the 70 carvings, sculptures, masks, and figures from the Bambara, Dogon, Senufo, Gouro, and Baule tribes to Newcastle University out of fear that the collection might be dispersed. Although I’m still working on exploring the more anthropological contexts of this West African art collection, it’s very interesting and helpful to find out the collector history.