Entre Grâce et Brutalité: La Côte d’Ivoire dans les Collections Italiennes

African art and Italian collecting

The collecting of African art in Italy has followed a complex and relatively late, yet deeply significant path. “Les Italiens… ah, les Italiens…”. This ironic expression reflects the delayed encounter between Italy and African art, shaped by historical, cultural and intellectual factors.

For a long time, African sculpture was perceived through the lenses of ethnography or exoticism, rather than as an autonomous artistic language. Only gradually did collectors and scholars develop a more refined understanding, recognising the intrinsic aesthetic value of these works beyond Western categories.

This awareness led to the emergence of a rigorous and conscious approach to collecting, based on aesthetic judgment and a form of African classicism. The sculpture of Côte d’Ivoire reveals a balance between form, structure and expressive power that requires a trained and attentive eye.

This catalogue is a tribute to those Italian collectors who recognised the value of African sculpture beyond conventional interpretations. It also demonstrates how, even in a context historically less exposed to African art, new and meaningful paths of aesthetic discovery could emerge.

Further reading

all publications
African art in Italy
international exhibitions and fairs
gallery exhibitions in Milan

Related publications

A Hidden Heritage
Origins: A Vision on African Art
Africa Classica
Estetica Africana

←Back to publications