Cole Harrell on “FEMME” and Classical African Art
FOA’s Laura Day Webb in conversation with Classical African Art Dealer, Cole Harrell on his latest exhibition “FEMME” now on view through June 30th at Harrell Fine Art in NYC.
Cole Harrell is an internationally recognized specialist in classical art from Africa and Oceania. Since founding Harrell Fine Art, New York in 2013, he has conducted sales, acquisitions, research and appraisals for clients ranging from private collections to leading American cultural institutions. Mr. Harrell has been featured in many leading publications, including Architectural Digest, The Business Times Singapore, Traditional Home, Apollo Magazine and more.
Since 2015, Harrell Fine Art has mounted continual programming centered around classical African sculpture; highlights have included Mastering Worlds; Exploring Space and Scale in Tribal and Asiatic Art (2015), H; A Private New York Collection (2020), Past is Prologue I/ Past is Prologue II (2022, 2023 and produced in partnership with Montague Contemporary, New York) and FEMME (2024).
Mr. Harrell is a co-founder of the Cheng-Harrell Institute for Global Affairs, and has been a trustee of the San Jose Museum of Art since 2020; selected additional philanthropy include The Frick Collection, New York, The World Monuments Fund, The Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Washington D.C.
Mr. Harrell lives and works in New York City.
What initially drew you to classical African art?
I first became interested in African Art as a boy growing up in Texas. Being from the Houston area, I was fortunate to be surrounded by several world-class institutional collections, including the HMFA and The Menil Collection. Both museums contain very strong holdings in classical African Art. I was an actor at the time, and I found such resonance with African masks/ theatre. From there my passion grew, and to this day I find that the field of African Art contains everything I enjoy learning about: theatre, dance, ethnology, social anthropology, sculpture, art history, botany, zoology, religion...the list goes on.
Tell us a bit about your current exhibition, FEMME and its focus on the feminine within classical African art?
Our current exhibition, FEMME, is one I am particularly proud of. The show celebrates the feminine through masterworks of classical African Sculpture. I have been carefully building this show over the last several years, so to see it finally take wings and soar is a real joy. With the times as they are now globally, I felt it was timely and prudent to shine a light on feminine power and beauty and celebrate it; African sculptors have famously venerated the female form in their work so it seemed a natural choice. The show is up until June 30th at our space in Chelsea.
Is there a particular piece from the exhibition that resonates with you most and, if so, why?
This is a very tough question since there are several works in this show I love, and am extremely proud to be representing. If I had to narrow it down to just one, I would say the Baga d'mba Yamban mask from Guinea. Sculpted by a Baga sculptor at the turn of the century, these masks, made famous by artists like Picasso who owned one and directly took influence from it in his paintings and sculpture, are icons in the canon of African Art. They are also exceedingly rare, with only about 30 authentic examples known, and furthermore only 5 of the same type as the present example have been identified. The example in our show was acquired in situ by the famous collector Emil Storrer while he was in Baga country in the early 1950's, and was lost to the field of African Art until being re-discovered in 2023. I find myself struck with awe at the present work's presence, grace, strength; the patina present is a testament to its long ritual use in situ. It is a masterpiece that carries a timeless beauty and power that I am certain will continue to inspire future art admirers for generations to come.
Classical African art has inspired generations of artists globally and you have been known to showcase contemporary work in tandem with it in some of your exhibitions. Are there certain contemporary artists that particularly resonate with you right now?
Great question. As you know I have built my career as a specialist in Classical African works of art, so when I started featuring works by contemporary Diasporic artists, I was presented with the chance to fall in love with the field in a completely new way; to approach the work from a fresh angle and see through the lens and interpret artists working now in addition to artists of the 19th century has been a real joy. Contemporary African art as a collecting category has blessedly grown over the last decade--so many artists are creating work that is technically proficient and intellectually stimulating. I am particularly fond of the work of Beatrice Wanjiku from Kenya; her practice draws on so many inspirations and yet she has crafted a style all her own. I find her paintings to be intensely haunting and simultaneously so vulnerable.
PRESS RELEASE
Harrell Fine Art is delighted to present FEMME, a celebration of the feminine through masterworks of Classical African sculpture running through June 30th.
Highlights include an important rediscovered Baga d'mba Yamban mask (acquired in situ by Emil Storrer); a selection of statuary from Central Africa, including a superb nkisi power figure from the Bwende culture of the Congo; several masks from West Africa, including an important Dan glewa mask (featured in the landmark 1977 exhibition "Treasures from the Ivory Coast" by J. Camp Gallery, New York); a fine Yoruba olo Elagba scepter, previously in the Miehler Collection, Munich.
Harrell Fine Art is open by appointment, Tuesday-Thursday in New York.
For inquiries, please contact: cole@coleharrell.com