Figure (Mbulu Ngulu)

Late 19th-early 20th century

Kota: Mindumu or Obamba
Gabon
Central Africa

Figures related to ongoing communion with the ancestors were once widespread among the various Kota peoples. Reducing the human form to flattened planes, artists accentuated these sculptures with sheets and strips of brass and copper. The metal connoted prosperity while its reflective quality was understood to frighten away evil. The figures’ abstraction inspired the Cubists and other modern European artists in the early 20th century to explore forms of repre-sentation that are not rooted in visual reality.

Status: On View, Gallery 137
Department: Arts of Africa

Culture: Kota
Title: Figure (Mbulu Ngulu)
Place: Gabon (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1875–1925
Medium: Wood, brass, copper, and iron
Dimensions: H.: 54.6 cm (21 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Charles H. and Mary F. Worcester Collection Fund
Reference Number: 2007.212

John C. Galloway, Modern Art: The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Dubuque: W.C. Brown Company Publishers, 1967), p. 72, fig. 62.
Roy Sieber, Anspach Collection, exh. cat. (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Art Gallery, 1968), no. 77.
George Nelson Preston, The Innovative African Sculptor, exh. cat. (Ithaca, N.Y.: Ithaca College Museum of Art, 1970), p. 37, no. 61, p. 56, no. 61 (discussed).
George Nelson Preston, African Sculpture: Rare and Familiar Forms from the Anspach Collection, exh. cat. (Potsdam, N.Y.: Brainerd Hall Art Gallery, State University College at Potsdam, 1973), no. 3
Alain and Françoise Chaffin, L’Art Kota: Les figure de reliquaire (Meudon: Chaffin, 1979), p. 263, no. 159.
Constantine Petridis et al., Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2020), p. 138, fig. 1.

University of Notre Dame Art Gallery, Anspach Collection, March 17-May 12, 1968, n.pag., no. 77.
Ithaca College Museum of Art, The Innovative African Sculptor, Nov. 11-Dec. 21, 1969, p. 37, no. 61, p. 56, no. 61 (discussed); traveled to Hamilton, N.Y., The Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University, Feb. 15-March 15, 1970.
Potsdam, N.Y., Brainerd Hall Art Gallery, African Sculpture: Rare and Familiar Forms from the Anspach Collection, 1973, n.pag., no. 3.
Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth, Texas, “The Language of Beauty in African Art”, April 3-July 31, 2022.

John J. Klejman (died 1995), Klejman Gallery, New York, N.Y., by 1962 [Preston 1973, no. 3]; sold to Ernst Anspach (died 2002), New York, NY, from 1962 until at least 1979 [Chaffin 1979, p. 263, no. 159]. Unknown private collection, Paris, France, before 2006 [personal communication from Steven Morris documented in curatorial file]; Lance and Roberta Entwistle and Co., London, and Steven Morris, Donald Morris Gallery, New York, NY and Birmingham, Mich., 2006 [personal communication from Steven Morris documented in curatorial file]; sold to the Art Institute, 2007.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

On View

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Culture

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Related artworks

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share