Mask (Goli Gulin)

Date20th century

Label TextArtistic fusions were a hallmark of Picasso's vision. He owned a mask of this type and was inspired to draw an animal head with elongated features, which evolved into a horse's head in his sketches. It was eventually realized as a head for the manager in the ballet Parade-Picasso's version combines elements from architecture, machinery and a Baule mask.

Object number81.17.228

Provenance[J. J. Klejman Gallery, New York]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1963; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981

Exhibition HistoryLos Angeles, California, Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, African Art in Motion: Icon and Act, Jan. 20 - Mar. 17, 1974 (Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, May 5 - Sept. 22, 1974). Text by Robert Farris Thompson. No cat. no., p. 149, reproduced fig. K-7 (as "guli" mask). Bellingham, Washington, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Masks: Facing the World, July 30 - Nov. 8, 1987.

Credit LineGift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

Dimensions29 1/2 x 12 5/8 x 14 3/16 in. (74.9 x 32 x 36 cm)

MediumWood, metal, and pigment