Door

Artist: Areogun of Osi-Ilorin, Yoruba, c.1880–1954
Date: first half 20th century
Material: Wood, iron, pigment
associated with: Ekiti state, Nigeria, Africa
Classification: Architectural elements, sculpture
Collection: Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Current Location: On View, Gallery 117
Dimensions: 49 × 26 × 2 1/4 in. (124.5 × 66 × 7.6 cm)
Credit Line: Funds given by Wanda M. Bowers in memory of the Oliver O. Bowers and Alma A. Bowers Family, consisting of Oliver O. Bowers, Alma A. Bowers, Lucille Bowers Aubuchon, Wanda M. Bowers and Dr. Charles O. Bowers
Rights: © Estate of Areogun of Osi-llorin
Object Number: 110:2017

NOTES

Leadership is celebrated on this door’s three segments. From top to bottom, a leader appears on a bicycle flanked by captives and attendants, on horseback bearing a sword and gun, and posed victoriously wielding a gun and captive. Made for the residence or headquarters of an important individual, this door reflected the owner’s powerful status and identity. Indigo applied on and around the horse rider’s head suggests the door was a site for ritual activity. The artist Areogun is among the most notable documented carvers of historical Yoruba art, famous for creating doors and veranda posts of elite men as well as religious sculpture. Areogun was trained by the important sculptor Bamgbose (d.1920) and was the father of another noted Yoruba carver, George Bandele (1910–1995).

Provenance

by mid-1980s - 2017
Sidney (d.2015) and Gae (d.2016) Berman (Berman Gallery), New York, NY, USA; Dale George, North Bellmore, NY, by inheritance [1]

2017 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Dale George [2]

Notes:
[1] According to Dale George, daughter of Sidney and Gae Berman, this object had been in the Berman Gallery inventory for at least 30 years. Dale George inherited the object from her parents [notes of telephone conversations between Dale George and Museum curator Nichole Bridges, October 26, 2016 and January 18, 2017, SLAM document files].

[2] An invoice dated September 8, 2017 from Dale George to the Saint Louis Art Museum documents the purchase of this object, listed as "Yoruba Carved Wooden Door" [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 7, 2017.

We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.