Artists have long referenced the art of other cultures, but arguably no relationship demonstrates one’s influence on the other like that of African and Oceanic art with western genres. Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin and Cézanne are just a few of history’s most celebrated artists who take inspiration from traditional African and Oceanic figures, and several of such works are offered in Sotheby’s auctions of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art in New York this May. Ahead of the pre-sale exhibitions in our newly expanded York Avenue galleries, New York highlights were exhibited at Sotheby’s Paris alongside sculpture from two esteemed private collections of African and Oceanic art: Harry A. Franklin's, to be sold in New York, and Marceau Rivière's, to be sold in Paris. Ahead, view images from the Parisian exhibition and behold the uncanny visual parallels between art from centuries and oceans apart. –Stephanie Sporn
