Africa & Oceania

New presentation of objects from the Buchheim Collection in the tower room on the 3rd floor of the Buchheim Museum

Lothar-Günther and Diethild Buchheim have amassed a remarkable collection of expressionist paintings and graphic art. Modernist art is linked to the discovery of the supposedly "primitive" cultures of the so-called primitive peoples of Africa and Oceania. It is therefore not surprising that Buchheim also began to buy non-European works. At first only sporadically, but at some point his ambition in this area of collecting took hold and over the years he collected a large number of non-European objects.

In the late summer of 1978, Buchheim traveled to West Africa. His photos from Benin, formerly Dahomey, show the country from the perspective of a traveler who wanted to capture the everyday life of the tropical country and seek contact with the people. He photographed at the harbor, in the settlements, women at the market and craftsmen at work. And Buchheim also bought locally. First he captured the work of the furniture carvers on film, then he acquired the most beautiful pieces. Around two dozen of their chairs, stools and tables are now part of the Buchheim collection. They are so robust and stable that they can not only serve as exhibits, but also as seating for visitors.

Buchheim did not collect according to scientific criteria, he was not interested in the function of the objects, nor the age of the pieces, their supposed aura or their value on the art market. He didn't care whether they were souvenirs for tourists or "genuine" cult objects. Most of the objects were made in post-colonial times. Buchheim had to touch the objects directly, trigger something in him. His gaze was that of an artist who was drawn to the design ideas of other creatives. In his private museum in Feldafing, the "Green Gallery", Buchheim arranged everything side by side, colorfully mixed, without specifying countries of origin or the destination of the individual artefacts. Nothing was to distract from the effect of the imaginative objects themselves.

The "Africa & Oceania" exhibition at the Buchheim Museum shows selected masks and sculptures based on a basic framework of countries of origin and ethnic groups. The exhibits themselves were combined freely and purely according to aesthetic aspects, with the exception of two groups that belong together in terms of content: a series of COLON figures from the Baule (Ivory Coast) and various GELEDE masks from the Yoruba (Nigeria).

A selection of some of the exhibits can also be found on Collection Online.

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2024 in the museum

DIRECTOR'S CUT – BUCHHEIM'S EXPRESSIONISTS
20.02.2024 – January 2025

FRANZ S. GEBHARDT-WESTERBUCHBERG (1895–1969)
Portrait of a painter's life
02.03. – 09.06.2024

BUCHHEIM COLLECTION - INSIDE OUT?
PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS
27.04.2024 – 12.01.2025

LOTHAR-GÜNTHER BUCHHEIM AND THE ART MARKET
16.03. – 16.06.2024

MUSICAL SWINGS
Swing · Have fun · Dream · Enjoy

The Boat
Since 31.07.2021

BUCHHEIM'S HOUSE
Permanent exhibition: Reconstruction of Buchheim's villa in Feldafing

COLON-Figuren der Baule (Elfenbeinküste),Foto: Julia Rejmer / Buchheim Museum

Ausstellungsansicht »Afrika & Ozeanien«, Figur im Vordergrund: Nimba-Maske der Baga (Guinea),Foto: Julia Rejmer / Buchheim Museum

GELEDE-Masken der Yoruba (Nigeria),Foto: Julia Rejmer / Buchheim Museum

Maskenkapuzen des Elefantenbundes, Bamilike (Kamerun) und Kleinplastiken,Foto: Julia Rejmer / Buchheim Museum