Art Newspaper Features Yup’ik Dance Mask
The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper has selected a Yup'ik dance mask previously owned by Surrealist artist Roberto Matta as among “this year’s gems” at TEFAF New York 2024.
The mask was first collected in Alaska by Joseph E. Chilberg. In the late 19th century, Chilberg traveled to Alaska for the gold rush, and over a period of approximately 20 years amassed a large and significant collection of Yup'ik art and objects. In 1917 Chilberg established Chilberg’s Alaska Museum of Arctic Antiquity and Curio Emporium in Long Beach, California, which remained in operation until 1935. The mask was later owned by Surrealist artist Roberto Matta. Assembled from heterogeneous materials to materialize dream-based images, the Surrealists considered Yup'ik dance masks particularly akin to their own thought. “Collecting non-Western art formed an important aspect of Surrealist practice, and the present mask is one of the finest examples of its kind extant,” the article quotes Donald Ellis. The work is on view at TEFAF New York 2024 alongside a remarkable group of Yup’ik dance masks.