
Collecting art objects from different countries in Africa was for many years the “second profession” of Michael Alexander Heymann, a South African doctor. Over time, his personal archive became vast enough to represent a significant overview of "Black Africa” art.
“African Art Collection” is the record of this archive, which consists of sculptures, masks and ceremonial objects made from gold, wood, marble and iron collected in 13 different countries on the African continent. These are: Mali, Alto Volta, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Daomé/Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Zaire and Angola.
Published in English in 1982, African Art Collection was supervised by Everardo Magalhães Castro and features photos by Michael Heymann himself. The text is by Brazilian writer Antônio Olinto, who served as cultural attaché in Lagos, Nigeria at the start of the 1960s.
