SOUVENIRS D’AFRIQUE: Arts of Africa from the Collection of Janine and Josef Gugler
On view through October 13, 2019
The William Benton Museum of Art
University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
www.thebenton.org
This exhibition features works recently donated to the Benton from a large collection of African art and material culture acquired beginning in the 1960s by University of Connecticut Professor Emeritus of Sociology Josef Gugler and his wife Janine Gugler. Many of the works were collected in situ during Professor Gugler’s field research in Nigeria, including a number of Igbo masks and sculptures purchased directly from the artists. Other works represent objects types and styles typical of works available in the African art market during the mid to late 20th century. The exhibit explores issues of indigenous cultural meaning, aesthetic value, authenticity, and the history of American and European interest in the arts of Africa.
Image credits: Yoruba Mask, Gift of Janine and Josef Gugler, William Benton Museum of Art
