Art Pick of the Week: Seated Couple
Every week we’re sharing one of our favourite artworks from the AGO Collection for you to see on your next visit.
Dogon peoples. Seated Couple, possibly 19th century or earlier. Wood with applied coatings, copper alloy, ferrous metal, Overall: 58 x 31 x 14 cm. Gift from the Frum Collection, 1999. © Art Gallery of Ontario 99/472
Artists from sub-Saharan Africa began abstracting the human form to emphasize the emotional content of their work before artists like Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore at the turn of the 20th century. ,. Filled with spiritual meaning, the sculptures, masks and figures of the Frum Collection of African Art display these inventive interpretations. Representing universal themes of birth, marriage and death each work is crafted in the distinct style of its cultural group. This includes our Art Pick of the Week, Seated Couple, by the Dogon people of the central plateau region of Mali.
Featuring two elongated figures, Seated Couple is carved from a single piece of wood and coated with copper and iron alloys. The two figures, located on Level 2 in Gallery 249 (at the East end of Galleria Italia), are sculpted in the Tomo-Ka style, which is specific to the Dogon people. Following this tradition, Seated Couple is symmetrical, showing a man seated next to a woman with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. The connection between the two figures and their similar size is meant to demonstrate the ideal union of a harmonious married couple.
Sculptures like Seated Couple had immense symbolic and spiritual meaning in Dogon culture. They are typically displayed in a private home or shrine enabling Dogon people to communicate with the spirit of departed relatives. With family at the centre of home life, sculptures like this were important, especially in times of sickness, or need.
Donated to the AGO by Dr. Murray Frum, this object is one of 95 objects on display. With works from a range of regions across sub-Saharan Africa, the Frum Collection showcases the distinct rules and conventions followed by artists from different cultural groups. Take a trip up to Gallery 249 on the second floor and marvel at Seated Couple, and other compelling Dogon works currently on view.
Stay tuned for next week’s Art Pick.
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