A partial list of African, Asian, American Indian, Northwest Coast Indian and Oceanic
online image and articles reference sites
I wanted to create a simple, organized, easy to access list that will hopefully be useful for collectors.
It's hard to keep on top of them all, but as I come across them I will post links and information to this page.
Online image reference sites
Name
Description
Website
Barnes Foundation
Collections
Website
Dogon-Lobi
Photos of Dogon, Lobi, Egypt and more!
Website
The Menil Collection
Various cultures
Website
Dallas Museum of Art
Collections
Website
Museum Reitberg
Collections
Website
American Museum of Natural History
African collection visual database (see below for entire list)
Website
Ibeji Archive
An archive of Ibeji figures
Website
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Collection highlights (visual)
Website
Musee du quai Branly in Paris
100 Masterpieces to Discover
Website

100 Masterpieces to
Discover
National Museum of African Art
Explore the Collection
Website
SIRIS Image Gallery (Smithsonian)
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives (fantastic!)
Website
AFRICAN STUDIES AT COLUMBIA
 
Website
Soulair - Stanford University African Portal
Links to LOTS of African photographic resources
Very comprehensive
Website
Detroit Institute of Arts
Search the online collection
Website
Seattle Art Museum
Search the online collection
Website
 
 
 
Maurer Collection
Images of a private collection of African art
Website
The George Ortiz Collection
A private collection of art from around the world
Website
 
 
 
KINGS OF AFRICA
Photographs by Daniel LAINÉ
Website
Kota mbulu ngulu figures
From my You Be the Judge pages
Link
Fang style comparisons
From my You Be the Judge pages
Link
Bena Lulua figures
From my You Be the Judge pages
Link
Songye power figures
From my You Be the Judge pages
Link
Kongo Nkondi or Nkonde nail fetish figures
Additional link to the "Good and the Bad"
Link
5 Italian collectors
Images of private African art collections
Website
Dallas Museum of Art
Explore the online collection
Website
The British Museum
Explore the online collection of more than 5000 objects
Website
Africa Museum (Belgium)
African art museum in Belgium
Website
Africa Museum (Belgium)
Search the collection
link
The British Museum
African objects online at the British Museum
Link
Denver Art Museum
African art collection
Website
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
Explore the African art collection
Link
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Explore the African art collection
Link
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Explore the collections
Website
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Selected Works from the Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Collection
Link
Bowers Museum
Current exhibitions
Website
Cincinnati Museum of Art
Collection of African art
Link
National Museum of African Art
 
Website
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Explore the African art collection
Link
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Explore the Art of the Americas
Link
 
 
 
Neuberger Museum of Art
 Explore the African art collection
 Link
Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford University)
Explore the online collections (Africa, Oceania, Americas, Asia)
Link
African pottery
Website of William Itter, an extraordinary collection of African pottery.
Link
Goemai mask
African Arts - Spring 2002 in an article “Eastern Nigerian art
from the Toby and Barry Hecht Collection”.
Link
Zulu spoon in the Musee de l'Homme
 
Link
An interesting TABWA mask from the Stanley
Collection
 
Link
Art Institute of Chicago
Selected works from the African art collection
Link
Peabody Essex Museum
African collection
Website
The Logan Museum
African collection
Link
Florida Museum of Natural History
The Pearsall Collection of American Indian Art: Image Gallery
Link
Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal (Netherlands)
Explore the African collection
Link
American Museum of Natural History
Totems to Turquoise (online exhibition with lots of images)
Link
Australian National University
Images of African objects taken at the Lourve Museum in Paris
Link
Over 160,000 images of the Museum's objects are currently available online. Generous support for creating digital images of artifacts,
documents, and photographs has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation.

You can access the main page for the image archives by CLICKING HERE - or you can access them in the links below
Pacific Ethnographic Collection. The value of the Pacific ethnology collection lies in the fact that it was systematically assembled by
men and women who had a great understanding of the cultures they were investigating. They new exactly what to collect and the
document in order to accurately represent people's material culture. As a result, parts of the collection are uniquely important because
they often date back to the mid-19th century and represent pre-industrial procurement methods, production techniques, religious
beliefs, and aesthetic sensibilities. The entire collection with over 27,000 objects is available online.
North American Ethnographic Collection is one of the most comprehensive and well-documented in the world, containing various types
of artifacts from every Native American cultural region in North America. The Plains ethnological objects are the most significant of the
holdings. They were obtained chiefly through the field work of some of the greatest figures in american anthropology. They are
well-documented both in the Anthropology Division records and in published monographs. The collection represents an extremely
important scholarly resource as well as an irreplaceable national treasure to be preserved for future generations.
The entire collection with over 49,000 objects is available online.

Additional Resources: Collection History | Research and Projects | Photographs from Jesup Expedition
African Ethnographic Collection at the Museum dates to 1869, the year the Museum was founded. The earliest collections were
donated by or bought from missionaries; some material was obtained from European museums, auction houses, or received as gifts.
At the end of the nineteenth century many explorers and travelers brought objects from Africa that were acquired by the Museum.
The African collection is extensive in terms of geographic coverage. It includes North Africa, West Africa, and Madagascar, although
its greatest concentration of material is from central and southern Africa.
The entire collection with over 37,000 objects is available online.
Additional Resources: Collection History | Research and Projects | Photographs from Congo Expedition | Library's Congo Website
Asian Ethnographic Collection makes up the finest collection in the western hemisphere. A large part of the collection was made by
early anthropologists, who gathered extraordinarily detailed documentation. The collection is comprehensive and includes virtually all
object types made of every conceivable material. Objects from this collection are frequently requested for exhibitions. The objects in
this collection span an immense range of diversity of cultures: form semi-sedentary agriculturalists in the rain forests of Malaysia, to
Bedouin nomads, and to the peasants and poets, philosophers and statesmen of India and China, the world's oldest enduring
civilizations. The entire collection with over 45,000 objects is available online.
Ethnographic Textile Collection. The significance of its textile collections moved the Division of Anthropology to undertake a project for
the rehousing and digital imaging of the ethnographic collections. This two-year project insured the long-term preservation of and
access to the textile collections while also provided the means to make the collections and the information they contain available to an
unprecedented degree through the use of information technologies.
The entire collection with over 12,000 objects from all continents is available online.
Highlights from all collections
Online articles and maps
Name
Description
Website
Antique Tribal Arts Dealers of America
Online repository of articles dealing with Tribal Arts and Native Arts
Link
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IDOL BECOMES ART / FANG: An Epic Journey
Information on a film by Susan Vogel
Link
"The New Congo Collection"
From the Museum Journal of the University of Pennsylvania March 1913
Link
A NATURAL CURIOSITY - THE BRITISH MARKET
IN PRIMITIVE ART
It delves into the history of collecting, influences on the tribal
market, dealing with fakes and much more.
Link
"The Authenticity of African Sculptures"
By Henri Kamer - a fantastic article!
Link
FAKING AFRICAN ART
BY MICHEL BRENT
Link
Out of Africa:
from sculptures and masks to textiles and
clothing, African traditional arts are a hot sell
Art Business News, by Claudia La Rocco
Link
THE EXHIBITION AND CONSERVATION OF AFRICAN
OBJECTS: CONSIDERING THE NONTANGIBLE
By STEPHEN P. MELLOR
Link
Artists' Reputations
Negotiating Power through Separation and Ambiguity
By: SIDNEY LITTLEFIELD KASFIR
Link
REVISITING THE PWO
Chokwe masks
by Manuel Jordan
Link
AKUA'S CHILD AND OTHER RELATIVES: NEW
MYTHOLOGIES FOR OLD DOLLS
by DORAN H. ROSS
Link
The Puss in Boots Complex by Bernard Dulon
The differences between dealers and collectors are, however,
rather subtle, since both are only temporary depositories of
works that, one day or another, will have to be given up-as
soon as possible for the former and as late as possible for
the latter.
Link
What is Quality Tribal Art?
by Joe Maierhauser
 
Link
"Whose Art is it Anyway"
“Whose Art Is It Anyway?” an important article by Michael Stoll focused on
new acquisitions by the San Francisco’s de Young Museum for its
expanded tribal art department.
Link
WHO MADE WHAT?
Methodology for Identification
by Marc L Felix - from the book "Mwana Hiti"
Link
Mbwoolo Sculpture of the Yaka
by Arthur P. Bourgeois
Link
TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY
An article dealing with illicit trade
Link
Yoruba Customs and Beliefs Pertaining to Twins
It's a GREAT article with lots of interesting information on
the Yoruba people and the Ere-Ibeji figures.
Link
The Yoruba Ibedji Twin Cult
a great article by David Zemanek of www.tribalartsforum.org
Link
IBEJI CUSTOM IN YORUBALAND
by TIMOTHY MOBOLADE
Link
Serious Fakes
Ideas and experience about how to detect fakes
Link
General recommendations for the care of your artifacts
Link
19th-Century Airport Art
by Ezio Bassani
Link
A selection of GREAT maps of Africa
In PDF format, these maps show cultural groups and locations from all over
Africa.
Link
Online interviews
Description
Website
Interview with Charles Ratton and images from his book
Link
Victor Teicher: Harmonious Passion
Link
52, rue Mazarine: from the School System to the Flea Market (an interview with Jean-Pierre
Laprugne) by Patrice-Flora Praxo (2003)
Link
"An interview with Egon Guenther"
by Karel Nel
Link
Interview with Arman Armand
Link
Merton D Simpson - "Artist, Dealer, Collector"
Link
"An interview with Ernst Anspach"
Link
I'll add more to this page as I come across it.
Rand African Art
home page

Museum and other exhibitions
home page

Return to the Auctions - Exhibitions and Reference sites MAIN PAGE
Art and Life in Africa Project
University of Iowa

A great website which includes -

DVDs on African art
Streaming video of Ghana and Burkina Faso
Search the Stanley Collection database
Photos of Ghana and Burkina Faso
Peoples of Africa
Resources for Art and Life CD-ROM
Music of Burkina Faso
African countries
Links to related sites

Use the Art and Life in Africa CD-ROM on-line

CLICK HERE to go to the main page for Art and Life in Africa
The Robert Goldwater Library Online Resource
is an interactive, online news and information resource. It is the brainchild of the Goldwater Library, the library to the Department of the Arts of Africa,
Oceania, and the Americas of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Like the library, its subject strengths include the art and material culture of West Africa, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya (Indonesia), and Precolumbian
Mexico and Peru, with extensive holdings in related disciplines such as anthropology, ethnology, and archaeology. It also covers contemporary art in
these regions, and issues broadly relating to libraries, museums, and online information resources.

The blog aims to serve up a combination of timely news and scuttlebutt as well as pointers to online resources of lasting research value. As both
authorship and readership expand, we expect that the blog will see an even wider variety of postings -- original reviews, think pieces, even audio and
video feeds.

The blog is the natural outgrowth of the library's longstanding tradition of providing reference services -- what we do each day in the library, simply
'repackaged' and 'repurposed' to make it available to a much wider potential audience. "
The Musée d'ethnographie de Genève has a nice website that is good for visual reference of objects from various cultures.
They have an especially strong collection of East African objects.

Collection of objects main page
The wonderful website of Elisabeth den Otter

Elisabeth has spent many years studying and documenting puppet traditions
around the world. She has spent quite a bit of time in Africa in the past, and is still
currently doing research in Mali on the masquerades of the Bamana and Bozo
peoples. Her website is full of photos and information, it's a really great resource.

She has written several books, put on exhibitions and has recently started
producing CD's and DVD's of the music and masquerades.