ELIOT ELISOFON: BRINGING AFRICAN ART TO LIFE by KATHERINE E. FLACH Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Catherine B. Scallen Dr. Constantine Petridis, Co-Advisor Department of Art History and Art CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY May 2015 2 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of Katherine E. Flach ______________________________________________________ Doctor of Philosophy candidate for the ________________________________degree *. Catherine B. Scallen (signed)_______________________________________________ (chair of the committee) Constantine Petridis ________________________________________________ Henry Adams ________________________________________________ Jonathan Sadowsky ________________________________________________ DATE OF DEFENSE March 4, 2015 *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. 3 This dissertation is dedicated to my family John, Linda, Liz and Sam 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 11 Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 12 Eliot Elisofon and African Art: An Introduction ........................................................ 14 Elisofon and LIFE ....................................................................................................... 20 The Legacy of Eliot Elisofon ...................................................................................... 24 State of the Literature ................................................................................................. 27 1974 - Tribute to Africa: The Photography and the Collection of Eliot Elisofon ..... 28 1974 - Robert and Nancy Nooter ............................................................................... 28 1990s-early 2000s - Christraud M. Geary ................................................................. 29 1996 - Amanda B. Carlson, M.A. Thesis .................................................................. 32 2000 – “To Help the World to See:” An Eliot Elisofon Retrospective ...................... 34 2007-present - Amy J. Staples ................................................................................... 34 2009-present - Raoul J. Granqvist ............................................................................. 35 Chapter One: Elisofon Biography and Career Overview ........................................... 39 Africa: A Chance to Change Your Life ..................................................................... 39 Career Beginnings ....................................................................................................... 40 Working for LIFE Magazine ..................................................................................... 41 World War II ............................................................................................................. 43 The Prototypical LIFEr .............................................................................................. 45 Aristocracy of Talent ................................................................................................. 49 The Meaning of LIFE ................................................................................................ 51 A Life Lived Through a Lens .................................................................................... 53 The Show-Book of the World ................................................................................... 55 Chapter Two – 1947: Africa or Bust ............................................................................. 57 Museum in Léopoldville (Kinshasa) .......................................................................... 60 Why the Kuba? ............................................................................................................ 63 Kuba: Mushenge, Day One ........................................................................................ 64 Kuba: Mushenge, Day Two ........................................................................................ 66 Photographing the King ............................................................................................. 67 Gift Exchange ............................................................................................................ 69 Songye ........................................................................................................................... 72 Luluwa .......................................................................................................................... 76 The Further History of the Kuba Encounter ............................................................ 78 The Kuba Encounter ReViewed ................................................................................. 88 Chapter Three: Eliot Elisofon, Meeting African Art .................................................. 98 Chaim Gross, Isamu Noguchi, and African Art ..................................................... 100 Gypsy Rose Lee and African Art ............................................................................. 101 5 An African Art Expert? ............................................................................................ 103 Elisofon’s Collecting Habits ..................................................................................... 104 1960s-70s, Warren Robbins ...................................................................................... 112 Chapter Four: Elisofon Photographing, Exhibiting, and Writing about African Art ......................................................................................................................................... 118 The Grand Plan ......................................................................................................... 120 1951 Alter Ego, Cooper Union Exhibition ............................................................... 124 1952 Understanding African Negro Sculpture, Exhibition ..................................... 127 Elisofon’s Multiple Exposure Images of African Art ............................................ 132 September 8, 1952, “Mystic Art of Tribal Africa,” LIFE ..................................... 137 African Art in the 1954 U.S. Camera Annual ......................................................... 145 April 1959, “African Sculpture,” The Atlantic Monthly ........................................ 149 October 13, 1961, ‘Literary Africa,’ LIFE photo essay ......................................... 156 January 1962, “African Arts: Primitives to Picasso” Think magazine, IBM ...... 161 Chapter Five: 1958 Was a Very Big Year .................................................................. 166 Masterpieces of Primitive Art, Exhibition ................................................................ 166 Masterpieces of Primitive Art, Reactions and Press Coverage ............................... 174 The Sculpture of Africa, Book ................................................................................... 184 A Visual Catalog of African Art .............................................................................. 189 The Sculpture of Africa: Reactions, Reviews, and Press Coverage ......................... 192 Bell, Book and Candle, Film ..................................................................................... 203 The Role of ‘Primitive’ Art in the Film ................................................................... 206 Reception ................................................................................................................. 211 Chapter Six: Late 1960s and Early 1970s Television Shows ..................................... 213 1967 ABC Africa Special ........................................................................................... 213 1970 Camera III: African Sculpture Productions ................................................... 216 CBS Camera III African Art Content Guide ........................................................... 219 1972 Black African Heritage ..................................................................................... 219 A Researcher’s Assessment ..................................................................................... 223 Art Coverage ............................................................................................................ 224 Black African Heritage Reviews and Press Reaction .............................................. 226 Chapter Seven: The Final Years ................................................................................. 251 1973 “Africa’s Ancient Splendor,” Smithsonian magazine ................................... 251 1973 African Art of the Dogon, Exhibition .............................................................. 255 An Adventure Interrupted: The End of Two Lives ............................................... 266 Conclusion: Eliot Elisofon and African Art ............................................................... 271 A Life of Influencing the Language of African Art ................................................ 276 Figures ............................................................................................................................ 288 6 Introduction and State of the Literature ................................................................