Du goût à la théorie. Le « Maître de Buli » au travers du prisme photographique

Abstract

Using a number of photographs of one the most emblematic sculptures of the Royal Museum of Central Africa, the author sketches a short evolution of the aesthetic and scientific trends connected to the “Master of Buli” bowl-bearing figure. By analyzing the special interest Belgian scholar Frans-Maria Olbrechts showed for figures by this artist, we will be able to summarize his “Olbrechtian” theories, based on previous work of German-American anthropologist Franz Boas, Italian art historian Giovanni Morelli and indirectly the research of French anatomist Georges Cuvier.

Keywords

• Master of Buli
• Luba
• art
• statuary
• art theory