Image courtesy of Tajan.
Andre Breton’s Guro mask did very well last Wednesday in Paris. Estimated at € 100.000-150.000 it sold for € 1.375.000,- (costs included) – a world record for a work of art of the Guro. Apparently, this mask was found in an estate in the South of France; that’s how it ended up at Tajan. The idea of having an auction especially for this mask definitely payed off. I think this was the first single-object sale in the African art world ever – and maybe not the last? The well written text by Bertrand Goy certainly helped, but it was of course the western segment of this mask’s history that skyrocketed the price. But even without it’s provenance, it is a gem of an object.
