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updated: December 11, 2024

Graue Linie
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  Restitution, Trade and Africa
  Commitments - Classic Art
  UNESCO-Convention
  New art in traditional Style from Togo
  Contemporary Art for sale
  Thesis of Art History | Benin
  The Monument - Art in Public Space
  RSI - Radiotelevisione svizzera - ll "traffico" d'arte africana
  World largest Balaphon for sale
  Important sales
  Projects
  Les Ateliers Sahm, Brazzaville
Linie
  Reviews
  Newsletters
  Peter ToGo
  Rosy Future
 
 
Linie
Translation: Restitution, Trade and Africa
29.3.2021
oben

Written in 2018, the article is now translated into English using the translation program DeepL.

In Germany, this article has caused quite a stir, as it appeals to reason against the mainstream.

Graue Linie
Recent Acquisitions
Herold Horn Blower
Benin. Nigeria
+- 1750
Bronze. 63 cm
Kleiner Hahn

 

Rooster
Benin, Nigeriar
+- 1700
Bronze.37 cm

Linie Grau 510
Maske der Guere Mask
Guere, Ivory Coast
Bronze
+- 1720
37 cm
Edan-Stab
Edan Staff of the Ogboni Covenant
Yoruba. Nigeria
around 1700
Bronze, 25 cm
Linie Grau 510
Ife tete Head
Ife-Style. Nigeria
+- 1840
37 cm. Bronze
Kleiner Kopf Owoueto
Head Owoueto
Benin. Nigeria
+- 1930
22 cm. Bronze
Linie Grau 510
Kleiner Kopf icon Head - Gift for important visitors
Benin-Culture
+- 1740
Bronze, 11,5 cm
Leopardenkopf
Leopard
Benin-Culture
Around 1670
Bronze. 21,5 cm
Linie Grau 510
  Moba Climatchangingfigure
Moba, Togo
appr. 1600 :-)
Wood 63 cm
Linie Grau 510
Owujoto Gedenkkopf Owujoto memorial head
Benin, Nigeria
appr 1800
Bronze 23,5 cm
Little rooster
Rooster
Benin-Culture
Around 1700
Bronze. 31,5 cm
Linie Grau 510
Passmaske Hip mask
Benin, Nigeria
Bronze. 15,5 cm
Gürtelmaske
Hip mask
Benin, Nigeria
appr. 17/18. century
Bronze. 17,5 cm
Linie Grau 510
  Hahn - Expertise

2. b-Analyse

Hahn
    Rooster
Benin-Culture
Around 1680
Bronze. 42x46 cm
 
Linie Grau 510
Schlangenkopf

Snake Head
Benin, Nigeria
18/19. century
Bronze. 28 cm

Kopf mit Korallenhut

Head
Benin, Nigeria
around 1780
Bronze. 44 cm

Linie Grau 510
oben Owo Kopf Terrakotta

Head
Owo-Culture
TL. Around 1550
Clay 14 cm

sold

tête | culture ife
Head
Ife-Culture
Around 1330
Clay 14 cm
Linie Grau 510
  General
High ranked military
Benin-Culture, Nigeria
appr. 1880
Bronze. 30 x 48 cm

Hoher Militär
General in full regalia
Benin, Nigeria
TL 1930/stil 18th cen.
Bronze. 36 x 46,5 cm

  Jüngling vom Königshof

Crocodile with Fish
Benin-Culture
appr. 15th century
Bronze. 26 x 48,5 cm

Krokodil with Fish

Young man
Benin-Culture, Nigeria
appr. 1910
Bronze. 35,5 x 45 cm


  Mann mit Schwert und Fischen Small Head - Guest gift
Benin. Nigeria
around 1740
Bronze. 11,5 cm
Kleiner Kopf - Geschenk

Man in modest festival clothes
Benin-Culture, Nigeria
around 1900 (without TL)
Bronze. 49 x 37,5 cm


Linie Grau 510

    Statue Ekpu der Oron

Ancestral figure Ekpu
Oron, Nigeria
77 cm



Linie Grau 510
  Kopf der Benin-Kultur

Memorial Head
Benin-Culture
Around 1650
Bronze. 29,5 cm

Expertise Head

Linie Grau 510

 

Vessel
Benin-Culture.
Around 1580. Bronze. 28 cm

Vessel

 

Thermoluminescence - Expertise
Labor Ralf Kotalla

Expertise Haigerloch
Wissenschaftliches Laboratorium - Museo d'Arte e Scienza
FT-IR spektroscopic Analyse
  Expertise  

Linie Grau 510

 

Benin Head

   
 
Memorial Head
Benin-Culture
appr. 1500
Bronze. 24,5 cm
 

  Expertise Laboratory Ralf Kotalla
Expertise Aventis
Expertise Antiques Analytics
  Thermoluminescence - Expertise
Labor Ralf Kotalla

Metallanalyse
Aventis
Metallanalyse
Antiques Analytics
Linie Grau 510
  Bust
Ife. Nigeria
around 1450
Clay. 41 cm


Büste Ife Kultur
Linie Grau 510

oben

Kopf Owujoto

Memorial Head
Benin-Culture.
appr. 1800
Bronze. 23 cm

Expertise Owujoto

Linie Grau 510

 

Ife Kopf

Head
Ife-Culture.
appr. 1370
Bronze. 31 cm
Expertise Ife Kopf
Expertise 2022

Linie Grau 510

 

Kopf Ife

Head
Ife-Kultur.
1390
Bronze. 32,5 cm
Expertise

Linie Grau 510

 

Ifekopf

Head
Ife-Kultur.
+- 1900
Bronze. 32, cm

Linie Grau 510

Dwarfs

thermoluminescence dating

thermoluminescence dating
oben Dwarfs/Persons of short Stature
Benin-Culture
around 1600
Bronze. 62 + 63 cm

Linie Grau 510

oben Kleine Ife-Maske
Mask
Ife, Nigeria
TL +- 1450
Bronze. 31 cm



Linie Grau 510

  Portugiesischer Armbrustschütze

Expertise Portugiese

 

Portuguese marksman
Benin, Nigeria
appr. 1850. Bronze. 44 cm


Linie Grau 510

oben

Relief Reiter

Rider
Tada-Culture
appr 1750
Bronze. 36 x 31 cm

Expertise Relief

Linie Grau 510

  Benin - Bust
Bust of a women
Benin, Nigeria
appr. 50 to 150 years
TL = geological
Bronze. 28 cm

Expertise Portugiese



Linie Grau 510

  Please send me more informations...

 

In Stock: Classic art from Africa - Benin, Ife, Fang, Bamana, Eket, Bamileke, Nok, Sokoto, Ibo, Urhobo, Pheul, Dogon, Lower Congo, Ngbaka, Marka ...


oben Alte Kunst aus Afrika
Alte Kunst aus Afrika

Graue Linie
Kulturgutschutzgesetz | Law

oben

According to the 1970 UNESCO convention, a repatriation claim must be made within a year after the authorities in the country of origin become aware of the cultural artifact’s location. Galerie Peter Herrmann thus always shares all information about its pieces – especially the Nigerian bronzes pictured on these pages, exhibited between 1989 and today and published online since 1995. Our mailing list includes organizations that handle restitution matters as well as both independent and state-employed art historians from, e.g., Nigeria.

Every buyer of an art object, whether it’s made of wood, clay or bronze, must be aware that from a European legal perspective, the piece usually was taken from the respective African country of origin on the basis of inadequate export documents. Neither international regulations nor national African legislation are conducive to free trade. Galerie Peter Herrmann tries to confront this dilemma by operating with the greatest possible transparency. The period from 1985 to 2015 in which Peter Hermann has been active is extraordinarily problematic for art historical research because African and European dealers worked as covertly as possible in a hazy legal situation and because important information that prior to 1970 might have passed from market to academy tended to be kept hushed up.

When in doubt, Peter Herrmann asks that you please be in touch. It’s in the gallery’s best interest to resolve every questionable situation using all available means.

Peter Herrmann, August 2015
Expert in old and new art from Africa
Customs and insurance expert

Sources
Transfer of Cultural Property Act
Restitution of Cultural Property Act
Protection of Cultural Property Act
UNESCO Convention


Graue Linie
Recent art in traditional Style

  Wächterfigur
 

Guardian, upper Mono.
Togo. ca. 1980
92 cm

no more on sale. The guardian became privat and iss feeded with red oil.


Linie
Contemporary Art for sale
Alte Kunst aus Afrika
Alte Kunst aus Afrika

 
Vestibül Mai 2013

Works by Bill Kouélany, Berry Bickle, Ayana V. Jackson, Zohra Opoku, Manuela Warstat, Marcia Kure, Nicole Guiraud, George Osodi, Fréderic Bruly Bouabré, Daniel Kojo Schrade, Jürgen Schadeberg, Mansour Ciss, Aboudramane, Moké, Chéri Samba, Ralf Schmerberg and Goddy Leye.

For sale on behalf of clients, works by Pascale Marthine Tayou, Owusu-Ankomah und Malam Artists

 



 

Bill Kouélany
(documenta 12)
o.T., 2007
Acryl and handmade paper on canvas

To sell in order for a Berlin collector
Euro 5,800,-

see more works available

Bill Kouélany


Linie
oben

Malam

To sell in order for a Francfort collector
Euro 8,800,-

see more works available from Malam

Malam
La Chimiothérapie

From the Series: The Blood of Others
2007, Plaster, pharmaceutic wrappings, bottles, chair, 156 cm.

Kunsttermine Titel


Graue Linie
Thesis of Art History
oben

Since many years Peter Herrmann is supporting the thesis, that since around the tenth century there ist cast-bronze in the today Benin-City. In opposition to ethnologists, who declare a shift of this technique from Ife to Benin in the 14th century. The discussion on a nigerian blog is using ceveral arguments to change art history in many points and leads to the gallery website using stylistic comparisons and the TL-Analyses of Kotalla Laboratory.

http://www.nairaland.com/392592/edo-colonized-yorubaland-not-vice/4


Graue Linie
The Monument - Art in Public Space
oben
The so called Monument in Baguida was build by Paul Ahyi to remember the german-togolees friendship and was inaugurated in 1984. In this essay the middleman of art Peter Herrmann looks with humor more on the context then on the art itself.
Das Monument in Baguida
Ein sehr schönes Denkmal im Stil der 1970er wurde 1984 von Herr Diktator Gnassingbe Eyadema zum Andenken an die wunderschöne Zeit mit den Deutschen eröffnet. Zeiten, wo es am Schluss einer Züchtigung noch einen extra Hieb für den Kaiser gab und Recht und Ordnung noch groß geschrieben wurden. Mit den Franzosen kam dann das welsche Lotterleben und ...... column

Graue Linie
ll "traffico" d'arte africana - by Matteo Koffi Fraschini

  broadcast

oben

Lomé (TOGO): Trafficante o commerciante? A seconda degli anni e delle circostanze, il ruolo di Peter Herrmann, tedesco sui 60 anni, è cambiato rispetto al fenomeno del commercio di arte africana tradizionale. Nessuno ha stime precise, ma è certo che tantissimi oggetti, per un valore di diversi miliardi di euro, sono stati comprati in Africa e rivenduti in Occidente durante l’ultimo secolo. Il cosiddetto “Traffico d’arte primitiva” nel continente nero è un mercato molto complicato, caratterizzato da diversi lati oscuri e pericolosi. I rischi sono tanti e a tutti i livelli. Alcuni esperti, africani e stranieri, parlano di un patrimonio culturale africano interamente rubato. Altri sostengono invece che si tratti di una compravendita di opere per molti aspetti legale, anche se difficilmente si trovino leggi apposite per regolarla. Dopo oltre 30 anni in questo mestiere, il Signor Hermann e altri conoscitori di tale controversa realtà hanno espresso le loro opinioni.

RSI - Radiotelevisione svizzera - January 28 - 25 minutes - ll "traffico" d'arte africana

Graue Linie
Afro
 
 

55 Set's including four from seven notes in a noumbered Couvert. Until 31.12.2011 each 300,- Euro >> Afro

 

Afro Serie
Exampel: Nr. PH8

oben

With a series of printed Afro-notes on canvas El Hadji Mansour Ciss dit Kanakassy won 2008 the 1. Price of the Dakar-Biennale.



Linie
World largest Balaphon for sale
  Balaphon

oben

...This diatonic balaphone has 29 slats made of palisander. Calebasses serve as soundboxes, all elements are tied togehter with cowhide cords. In order to produce a sound that sends out soft metallic vibrations, membranes of a smoothed out spider´s nest have been attached to the inside of the soundboxes. Four sticks with natural caoutchouc for playing the instrument.

The balaphone is 3 metres in length and up to 1.35 metres in width. Built for professional purposes, it is, to our knowledge, one of the largest instrument of its kind. During four months, Aly Keïta has traveled to three countries to find calebasses of the size needed.... more >>


Graue Linie
Important sales:
 

 

Goddy Leye

 
Fang aus Kamerun

We are the World
Video - 3/5
Goddy Leye
sold to the
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
and
Fondazione Fotografia, Modena

 

The most beautiful of all Fang figures. South Cameroon.
Arrived in Berlin during German colonial times
Sold to a south German collection


 

Head | Ife-Kultur

Head
Ife-Culture.
appr. 1450. Bronze. 33 cm.
ife Maske
Mask
Ife-Culture, Nigeria.
appr. 1800
Bronze. 31 cm

 

 

kopf mit Korallenhaube

 
Omolangidi
 
Memorial Head
Benin, Nigeria
TL-Expertise. appr. 1890
Bronze. 43 cm
 

Omolangidi
Dolls
Ekiti-State, Nigeria


oben

This head is one of the best replica the gallerist has ever seen. He's now included in the collection of fakes of the Ralf Kotalla Laboratory.

Ife Head Replica
Head
Ife-Culture
Between 1 and 50 years. Replica
Bronze. 32,5 cm

   
Ife Head
 
   
Head
Ife, Nigeria
18. cen. 19 cm

Terrakotta

 
  Thermoluminescence Analyse
Expertise Ghysels
oben Thermoluminescence Expertise
by QED Laboratoire
Tomodensitométrique | scanner à rayon X
Dr. Marc Ghysels. Radiologist
pdf
  Widder Owo-Kultur

Ram
Owo-Culture.
Around 1850
Bronze. 40 cm

sold

Expertise ram
oben Maske der Edo, Nigeria

Beltmask
Edo-Culture
Around 1650
Bronze. 28 cm

sold

Expertise Gürtelmaske
 

Guardian, upper Mono.
Togo. ca. 1980
93 cm

sold

Wächterfigur

  jeunne femme

Portrait of a women
Benin-Culture
Around 1650
Bronze. 51,5 cm

sold

Portrait of a woman

jeunne femme

Portrait of a women
Benin-Culture
Around 1790
Bronze. 49 cm

sold

Portrait of a woman
Linie Grau 510
 

sold Nov. 2017 - Ife-Mask from a private collection in Lomé.

From this type of bronze are existing far more then described in ethnologic literature. Accordingly the prices adapt themselves to the new situation. The Maske is examined stilistically and for patina by Peter Herrmann and is sold by order. A TL-Analyse was done some years ago at Labor Kotalla and will be supplied later. more

Ife mask

With this image the mask is published oficially (11.5.2017) and corresponds therefore to the demands of the UNESCO-Convention

Linie Grau 510
Ram Aquamanile Ram - Aquamanile
Owo-Culture, Nigeria
around 1650 (TL)
Bronze
h 24 cm | l 38 cm

sold to privat collection Singapur
 
Linie Grau 510
oben

Ife-Kopf

Head
Ife-Culture
appr 1350
Bronze. 30,5 cm

sold in November 2020 to a german collection

Expertise Ife Kopf

Graue Linie
New Site - Projects

  Menüleiste Projekte

oben
Interesting non-commercial activities from Peter Herrmann. Site under construction. more >>

Graue Linie
The Carneval Newsletter
we got many comments :-)

Carneval Herrmann vor seiner SK 4000

We are the experts for strontium-90 and colbalt-210, beta, gamma, and other irradiations. Whether with or without aluminum, we offer every zinc percentage and are your specialists for alloys of every kind....
Our methods are developed and recommended by recognized anthropologists with credible doctorate degrees.>>


Graue Linie

  Newsletter | Spezial offers | 17.9.2016
  Newsletter | Guardians from Togo | 5.8.2016
  Newsletter | Old art from Nigeria | 18.5.2016
  Newsletter | Heads | 17.2.2016
  Newsletter | Original and Fake | Owo and Ife | 14.1.2016
  Newsletter | Bronzes | Aboudramane| Ticker | 25.11.2015 (german)
  Newsletter | 2 x wood and 1 x bronze| 29.9.2015
  Newsletter | Kulturgutschutzgesetz | Bronzen 3 | 16.8.2015 (german)
  Newsletter | August 2015 - 20 years in Internet (german)
  Newsletter | July 2015 - Recent Acquisitions
  Newsletter | February 2015 - Recent Acquisitions
  Newsletter | New Home, new offers (german)
  Newsletter | Winner and Loser March, 2014
  Newsletter | February, 2014
oben Newsletter | December, 2013
Newsletter | August, 2013
Newsletter | February, 2013 - Carneval
Graue Linie
Peter ToGo | Bye Bye Berlin
August 2013

 

As it looks now, we'll conduct our exhibition activities in Lomé, where we're looking for suitable premises starting in the summer of 2014. As always, we're open to and available for participation in other projects. We'll leave behind an art storage space and a small office in Germany.

"Why Lomé?" many have asked. "Why Togo?" The answer is simple.


 

In Berlin, neither contemporary nor ancient African art managed to establish itself commercially. When it comes to the art scene, Eurocentric is certainly an appropriate descriptor. In West Africa, by contrast, recent years have seen the development of a new awareness of the art historical importance of old, classical art, the emergence of a vibrant young art scene and the growth of an art-loving middle class with disposable income. For decades, Lomé has been the most popular trading center for classical West African art, geographically well-situated between Lagos and Accra, the new centers of contemporary art. The move will also bring us closer to Brazzaville, Douala and Dakar, where we are involved in projects.

After many years of "missionary" activity, personal hardships and maddening bureaucracy in Berlin, we're eager to earn some money again, get to know artists and improve our quality of life.



oben

Afrika Wirtschaft - Von Berlin die Nase voll

Kunstmagazin. Galerist Peter Herrmann geht nach Westafrika

FAZ - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Von Berlin nach Lomé

Tagesspiegel - Kunst und Markt - Das neue Babylon

Berlin Poche - Berlin sehen und ... verlassen

Afrika Post - Galerie Peter Herrmann, Neustart in Togo - Willkommen in Lomé!


Linie
The last Exhibition in Berlin

Alte Kunst aus Afrika
Alte Kunst aus Afrika

 
Vestibül Mai 2013
Best of Bill Kouélany, Berry Bickle, Marcia Kure, Nicole Guiraud, Klaus Schnocks-Meusen, George Osodi, Spee Nzante, Daniel Kojo Schrade, Aboudramane and Moké. Several works for sale on customers order.


 

Classic Art from Subsaharian Africa - Benin, Ife, Fang, Bamana, Eket, Bamileke, Nok, Sokoto, Ibo, Urhobo, Pheul, Dogon, Unterer Kongo, Ngbaka, Marka ...


oben Alte Kunst aus Afrika
Alte Kunst aus Afrika


oben Goddy Leye
Most well known to our regular visitors is the video We are the World, the second edition of which we were able to sell to the Fondazione Fotografia in Modena a few years ago. At the end of 2012, the Centre Georges Pompidou decided to buy Edition III of five, a special honor. Naturally, we will show this film again as well.


Graue Linie
Rosy Future | ifa-Galleries

 
Peter Herrmann
 
Peter Herrmann
 
"Soldiers" with their "Weapons" for a Museum of contemporary art in Tunis

oben

Halim Karabibene was photographing for the exhibition:
Rosy Future - Contemporary Art from Tunisia.

fa Gallery Berlin
1210. – 21.12.2012

ifa Gallery Stuttgart
01.02. – 07.04.2013


Graue Linie
Les ateliers Sahm | by Bill Kouélany

  Les ateliers Sahm

oben

Visit the project



Graue Linie
Dia-Show
 

oben

Photos of the last gallery space in Berlin >>

La Galerie


Graue Linie
Bye Bye Berlin | Jürgen Schadeberg

 

Voices from the Land & City in South Africa today

Voices from the Land

A gallery opening, a farewell gala, and an 82nd birthday party, all in one night.

Although Berlin-born Jürgen Schadeberg and his wife Claudia are already leaving the city they had hoped to settle in, after having returned for only two years. They are moving on, to the south of Spain, where people will be willing to be photographed once more. We would like to hold a joyous vernissage a few days before he leaves and celebrate the move and his birthday with him.


 

In the exhibition we show 75 photographs extracted from the series Voices from the Land and Tales from Jozi. An accompanying film program is being prepared.

Voices from the Land depicts black and white images of agrarian South Africa, where people continue to live in near feudalism until today, and poverty is close at hand. This subtle and calm series displays the documentarian claim of the photographer. In contrast is the series Tales from Jozi. Here, the blazing city life jumps to color and shows us Johannesburg in all its facets. The books on these series and others, such as The Black and White Fifties, which we exhibited in 2003, will be sold in the gallery.


  Xmas Girls

Bye Bye Berlin, 82nd birthday and farewell party:

Exhibition: March 19 - May 11, 2013

Exhibition opening: With food, drinks, and live music: March 18, 2013 | 19:00

Mike Russel - Guitar
Max Hughes - Bass
Kenny Martin - Drums
Lionel Haas - Keyboard
Soulymane Touré - Talking Drum


 

DJ Armin Engel. - Music from South Africa of the last fifty years
In the Video-room: Films from and with Jürgen Schadeberg
Catering: Ebe Ano. Nigerian Fingerfood.
Introduction: Peter Herrmann

 

The Newsletter

Diashow of the opening

Eröffnung und Abschied

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Galerieansicht
Galerieansicht

Linie
Group-exhibition

  Großer Ausstellungsraum der Galerie Peter Herrmann

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Group exhibition - Best of Bill Kouélany, Berry Bickle, Ayana V. Jackson, Zohra Opoku, Manuela Warstat, Marcia Kure, Nicole Guiraud, George Osodi, Fréderic Bruly Bouabré, Daniel Kojo Schrade, Mansour Ciss, Aboudramane, Moké, Chéri Samba, Ralf Schmerberg, Mamadou Gomis and Goddy Leye. Works for sale on customers order by Pascale Marthine Tayou, Owusu-Ankomah and Malam.



Linie
Zohra Okpoku & Goddy Leye

  Zohr Opoku | Goddy Leye

Handwash Only & Hommage

Installation and Video | A Project in Cooperation with Ifa (Institut for Foreign Cultural Relation) Parallely to their exhibitionin prêt-à-partager our big exhibition hall and in the Video-R oom.

Exhibition:
28.4. - 7.7.2012

Opening:
April 27, 8 pm


 

Laudatio:
Dr. Uschi Eid & Madam Elke aus dem Moore

Music:
Souleymane Touré
und
Veronika Vogel
& Jeff Chappah

Simone Gilges & Mamadou Gomis
Berlin/Dakar

more >>

opoku

 

KLICK! Photo Competition: Winner from Senegal

Conference participants also voted for the winner of the photo competition, "KLICK! Your View of Culture and Education." More than 10,000 Internet users from around the world voted for their favorite ten photos from all of the submissions in advance of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. From these ten, Mamadou Gomis from Senegal with "Need to Know" was selected as the winner. Second place went to "Child Teacher" by Ehtisham Ahmad Farooqi from Pakistan, and in third place was Jake Reeder from the USA with "DPDHL TeachForAll. India School in Mumbai." The photos from the contest can be seen at www.dw-gmf.de.


  Dr. Ursula Eid
oben
Laudatio
 
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