African Art from the Tobias Collection

Press Release

Selections of African art including ceremonial masks, statues, basketry, and jewelry from the Joan and Gordon Tobias Collection will be on display in the William Paterson University Galleries in the Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts from April 3 to May 12, 2017. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on April 2, 9, 30, and May 7 from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. An opening reception for the exhibition will be held on Sunday, April 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. 

Curated by William Paterson professor of art Maggie M. Williams and students in the Arts of Africa course, this exhibition features objects such as a large wooden D’mba headdress that resembles a female bust and was worn by the Baga peoples of the Guinea coast, an “antelope” crest mask worn in harvest ceremonies performed by the Bamana peoples in Mali, and an impressive Nkisi Nkondi figure, encrusted with sacrificial materials and originating from the Republic of Congo. 

In 1998, the University Galleries acquired the Joan and Gordon Tobias Collection of African and Oceanic Art, which includes more than 500 objects amassed over a 35-year period for their aesthetic and ethnographic value. The African art consists of bodily adornment objects, ritual use objects, and functional objects, and represent more than 20 different ethnic groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. When recently reflecting on her collection, Joan Tobias stated, “I never dreamed it would be of any interest. I collected for personal interest and edification.” 

The Tobias Collection largely conveys the visual and cultural traditions of the vast and varied continent of Africa. The ritual objects and bodily ornamentation were often integrated with music and dance in ceremonies such as initiation rites, courtship and marriage ceremonies, spirit and ancestor worship, and seasonal and harvest festivals. Within this context, they conveyed distinct and complex spiritual beliefs. Other objects were used in daily living and demonstrate the distinct agrarian and hunting practices of tribal communities. Furthermore, the objects reveal innovation and creativity in form, pattern, and style, reflecting the skillfulness and sophistication of sculptors, weavers, potters, metal workers, and other artisans. Together, these objects have ideological, spiritual, and aesthetic value that exemplifies the histories and philosophies of the African continent and further the understanding of these cultures and histories. 

Joan (Lamb) Tobias was born in Scotland in 1934 and was raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended P.S. 208 where she enjoyed regular field trips to museums. At the age of 11, she became interested in Egyptology and made frequent visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, her interest in other cultures, languages, and people continued to grow. She studied speech therapy at New York University, and obtained her master’s degree in hearing and deafness from Northwestern University. In 1958, she married Gordon Tobias, a surgeon who also shared her appreciation for the arts and together they lived in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. By the early 1960s she became interested in the art of Kenya, Tanzania, and West Africa, and she enjoyed her visits to the University of Pennsylvania museum and the Rockefeller Collection at the The Met. The first African object she collected was a Fanti doll (a fertility figure from West Africa). In their lifetime, the Tobiases traveled to sub-Saharan Africa a total of 12 times between 1971 to 2001. Gordon Tobias died in 2003; Joan Tobias currently resides in Pennsylvania. 

African Art from the Tobias Collection is one of three exhibitions on view concurrently in the William Paterson University Galleries. On view in the South Gallery is work by award-winning graphic designer Wu FeiFei. Here/Now: A Juried Exhibition of Student Artwork, on view in the Court Gallery, showcases student work in diverse media juried by the William Paterson Art Department faculty. 

This exhibition is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The William Paterson University Galleries are wheelchair-accessible. Large-print educational materials are available. For additional information, please call the William Paterson University Galleries at 973-720-2654.