Acknowledgments

Petridis, Constantine

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Acknowledgments

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

Speaking of Objects: African Art at the Art Institute of Chicago

Acknowledgments

Author

Constantine Petridis (Editor)

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-22871

Acknowledgments

This book was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, whose enduring support is gratefully acknowledged. It reflects the dedicated and enthusiastic efforts of many people. First and foremost, James Rondeau, President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, together with Sarah Guernsey, Deputy Director and Senior Vice President for Curatorial Affairs, encouraged my colleagues and me to envisage this publication as more than just a collection catalogue. I thank them both for their endorsement.

I am greatly indebted to the scholars who authored the essays and entries in this catalogue: Martha G. Anderson, Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Pascal James Imperato, Manuel Jordán, Babatunde Lawal, Anitra Nettleton, and Janet M. Purdy. It has been an honor and a privilege to benefit from their expertise. Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi at Emory University, Atlanta, and Wilfried van Damme at Leiden University contributed constructive comments on earlier versions of the introduction.

I owe a special debt to Greg Nosan for his role in shaping the project with his team in Publishing, including Ben Bertin, Kylie Escudero, Robin Hoffman, Lauren Makholm, Lisa Meyerowitz, and Joseph Mohan. Robin’s rigorous and tireless editorial work did justice to the wide range of contributions. Lauren efficiently handled every aspect of its production, not least the coordination of new photography for this purpose. In Imaging, Aidan Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Mathias, Shelby Silvernell, Craig Stilwell, Joe Tallarico, and P. D. Young worked together and in collaboration with Jamie Stukenberg of Professional Graphics to capture beautifully the often unusual angles and shiny surfaces of the sculptures showcased here. In Conservation and Science, I thank Suzie Schnepp and especially Rachel Sabino, who kindly assisted with the art movement required for the new photography in addition to crucial conservation treatments. Much of this work happened in tandem with that of my departmental colleagues at the time. I sincerely thank both Simone Chagoya and Raymond Ramirez for their invaluable assistance. Elizabeth Pope, above all, merits my deepest gratitude for her critical contributions at every step.

This book also benefited from feedback offered by colleagues throughout the museum, especially as we reinstalled the Art Institute’s African art gallery from late 2018 into 2019: in Learning and Public Engagement, Emily Fry and Jacqueline Terrassa; in Experience Design, Kristin Best, Mark Dascoli, Bronwyn Kuehler, Andrew Meriwether, Michael Neault, and Jeffrey Wonderland; in Collections and Loans, current and former colleagues including Matthew Alicea, Kerri Callahan, Sally-Ann Felgenhauer, Andrew Gordon Haller, Deanna K. Tyler, and Lindsay Washburn; in Design, Samantha Grassi, Juneer Kibria, and Andrew Talley; in Communications, Paul N. Jones and Lauren Schultz; in Marketing and Public Affairs, Katie Rahn; in Legal, (formerly) Julie Getzels and Jennifer Sostaric; in Museum Facilities, (formerly) Mark Adkins, Leslie Carlson, Craig Cox, Christine Estelle Huck, Tim Porter, Esther Ramirez, Patrick P. Smith, and Christina Warzecha; and in Auxiliary Operations, Kirstie Lytwynec. In Textiles, Katherine Andereck, Isaac Facio, Sarah A. Gordon, Kathleen Kiefer, Erica Warren, and Melinda Watt are appreciated for facilitating the textile rotations that enliven our gallery.

Thanks to the generosity of the Field Museum and its president and chief executive officer, Richard Lariviere, the Art Institute was able to integrate seven stellar works from that museum’s historic African collection into our refreshed permanent installation. Several individuals on their staff were instrumental to this collaboration: Lauren Hancock, Stephanie Hornbeck, H. Thorsten Lumbsch, William A. Parkinson, and Christopher Philipp.

The following colleagues provided or helped secure illustrations that appear in conjunction with the essays and entries: Thomas Bassett; Anna Bennett; Brunhilde Biebuyck; David A. Binkley; Huib Blom; Samir and Mina Borro; Alexander Bortolot; Herbert M. Cole; Dominique and Roland Colin; Henry John Drewal; Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi; Eric Ghysels of 5 Continents Editions, Milan; Cory K. Gundlach; Sandra Klopper; Frederick John Lamp; Pierre Loos; Laurence Mattet of the Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva; Steven Morris of the Donald Morris Gallery, New York, and Birmingham, Michigan; Dori Rootenberg of Jacaranda Tribal, New York; Holly W. Ross; Nora Leonard Roy; and Susan Mullin Vogel. Bart Ryckbosch assisted with locating images in the Art Institute’s Ryerson and Burnham Archives.

The following institutions provided comparative images or permission to reproduce them: Agence Hoa-Qui, Paris; American Museum of Natural History, New York; Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, France; Basel Mission Archives, Switzerland; British Museum, London; Cleveland Museum of Art; Visual Resource Archive, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Musée du quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Paris; Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Royal Anthropological Institute, London; National Museum of African Art and Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, dc; University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City; and University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

For their continued support of the arts of Africa at the museum, I am grateful to the members of our advisory committee and its chair, Rita Knox. Finally, I dedicate this publication to my predecessors, who have helped build the Art Institute’s African art collection since the foundation of a dedicated department in 1957 and made it what it is today: Alan R. Sawyer, Allen Wardwell, Evan M. Maurer, Richard F. Townsend, Ramona Austin, and Kathleen Bickford Berzock.

Constantine Petridis
Chair and Curator, Arts of Africa

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