NEW YORK, NY.- To honor the reopening of Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Michael C. Rockefeller Wing and its Arts of Africa, Ancient Americas, and Oceania galleries, Throckmorton Fine Art is presenting Art of Africa & The Americas, a collaborative exhibition of historical African and Pre-Columbian sculpture paired with vintage prints by Malian photographer Malick Sidibé and pastels of Fang sculpture by Robert Ziering. The exhibition is on view through June 21, 2025.

Working closely with New York African art dealer Amyas Naegele, a central figure in the field for over 30 years, Throckmorton is exhibiting 54 pieces of sculpture with stellar provenance from all corners of the continent. Among the works being offered is an extraordinary and beautiful hawk mask from the estate collection of New York collector Thomas Wheelock, as well as masks and statuary formerly owned by Merton D. Simpson, Philip Pearlstein, Noble Endicott, the Bereiss family, Hélène Leloup and others. Also on view are rare Mezcala stone sculptures from 700-300 BCE. As a counterpoint to the sculpture, the exhibition presents 18 vintage black and white photographs by seminal Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, and contemporary pastels of ritual and ceremonial sculpture by Robert Ziering.

Malik Sidibé got his start as a studio photographer in the final years of French colonial rule. In the late 1950s, to document the emergence of a new nation, he stepped out of the shadows, initially focusing on the lively youth culture of the capital Bamako. Not to be contained, Sidibé broadened his vision to capture the spurt of national pride, celebration, and optimism that came with new-found freedoms upon independence in 1960. Sidibé captured it all: he took his camera to marriages, sporting events, nightclubs, and concerts. He also composed formal portraits. Sidibé’s photographs over the next 20 plus years reflect a loosening of social norms, and the relaxed mixing of the traditional and the modern, in everything from clothes to hairstyles and the very presentation of personhood. The images on view are all field-collected original works. Like the traditional sculptures they are presented with, they bear the mark of time and authenticity.

Robert Ziering is a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn in 1932. He was a prominent illustrator for over 40 years and counted many Fortune 500 companies among his clients. After retiring from illustration, Bob has devoted himself to his favorite subjects of interest. Noted for his mastery of the pastel medium, he has exhibited numerous series: notably, Twilight of the Gorilla, last exhibited at The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, Rembrandt: 40 years of a Face and Rembrandt and the Jews of Jodenbreestraat, both exhibited with Amyas Naegele in New York, and most recently, Stripped, the Pantless Presidential Portraits of Bob Ziering, exhibited at The SOHO Project Space Gallery in New York. Ziering’s newest series, Up Close, Portraits of the Bieri, reflects his love of African tribal art, which he has studied and collected for over 6 decades.

Art of Africa & The Americas also celebrates the 35 years of collegiality between Spencer Throckmorton and Amyas Naegele. In 1990 Spencer was already a seasoned dealer of ancient and ethnic art while Amyas was just starting his career after years of travel in Africa. Initially, Spencer’s go-to base-maker, Amyas quickly expanded his repertoire by trading exclusively in African art. He is among the relative few in the field who has traveled intrepidly across the continent, collected in the field and studied the ways and means of traditional carvers in person. He has been awarded the honor of appraising works in many notable public and private collections including for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of African Art.

Spencer Throckmorton founded Throckmorton Fine Art in 1980 and maintains a high-profile gallery in New York City’s East 57th Street art district. Throckmorton is unique in its approach to dealing in several categories and for supporting a vigorous exhibition and publishing program for each specialty. He has become one of the foremost sources for important Latin American contemporary and vintage photography, as well as for pre-Columbian artworks, and Chinese jade and antiquities.

Throckmorton Fine Art has participated in the most important art fairs including the annual Winter Show, where it has been a featured exhibitor for the last 30 years, and an exhibitor at The Photography Show presented by AIPAD for more than 20 years. Throckmorton has also been a member of ATADA (The Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association, Inc.) and the International Association for Ancient Asian and Tribal Art (formerly NADAOPA).