African Arts Gallery

The African tribal art of Côte d'Ivoire and its fantastic masks
With four pairs of tubular eyes, in reference to the phrase often quoted in West Africa "four eyes", describing a person endowed with a power of divination, this Kru board mask features a fleshy lip mouth brushed with red ochre. Decorative motifs carved into the wood are enhanced with clear pigments contrasting with the dark patina of the whole. The top has a crest of feathers. The Kru are divided into twenty-four subgroups, including the Grebo, based in southern Liberia and southwestern Côte d'Ivoire. Their leader is the bodio, who lives reclusively. Unlike most people in West Africa, they are not subject to Poro society. Their masks with tubular growths are said to be of origin oubi , and could symbolize the mythical creatures that populate the forests of the shores of the Cavally, to which the people address through ritual ceremonies. The interest of Cubist painters and modern sculptors in the abstract forms of the Grebo mask could be seen in some of their works, such as Picasso's metal guitar in 1914. source: "Treasuries of Côte d'Ivoire. F.Neyt"