New York, 22 March 2013

Madison Ancient & Tribal Art, an alliance of international dealers specializing in the art of traditional cultures, will present an exhibition of select objects for seven days only, May 10-16, 2013, at the Arader Gallery, located in a magnificent Beaux-Arts townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side near the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

MATA presents to new and seasoned collectors alike, a range of antique fine arts and ancient artifacts from traditional peoples of Africa, Oceania, Indonesia, Asia and the Americas, with an emphasis on figurative and abstract sculptures. The show coincides with the tribal art auctions taking place nearby at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bonham’s.

MATA dealers include Peter-Michael Boyd (African art), H. Kellim Brown (African art), Conru African & Oceanic Art, Bruce Frank Primitive Art (Oceanic and Indonesian art), Wayne Heathcote (Oceanic art), Joe Loux (Asian and tribal art), Ambre-Congo, Thomas Murray (Ethnographica Gallery), Amyas Naegele Tribal Art, Joaquin Pecci (Tribal Art), Adrian Schlag Tribal Art Classics (African and Oceanic art), and James Stephenson African Art.

Show highlighted objects include: A Lefem Society Figure from dealer Kevin Conru (An important Lefem Society figure by one of Africa's most renowned 19th century artists, Ateu Atsa, from Cameroons. He was active between 1860 and 1900, and created some of most extraordinarily powerful works in the sculptural canon of African art. Formerly in the collection of the Walter Potter Museum, Arundel, England); The Kota Reliquary Figure from dealer Adrian Schlag (Gabon Wood, Copper, Iron. Height 56, 5 cm, 19th/20th century Provenance: Suisse private collection);; The Songye Kifwebe Mask from dealer Kevin Conru (Congo circa 1900, brought to England in 1925 by O.A. Oeser. In 1946, he immigrated to Australia settling in Melbourne where he acquired the object through the widow of O.A Oeser via Deutcher/Hackett by private treaty); The Atei Figure from dealer Adrian Schlag (from Singarin, Agoram area, New Guinee. Wood, pigments Height: 176 cm, 19th/20th century Provenance: collection Ernst Heinrich, Stuttgart); and the Iatmul Pigment Dish/Neck Rest from dealer Bruce Frank.

Many collectors of ancient and tribal art from across the country and abroad will be in New York for the auctions. MATA aims to captivate this audience with the shows wide range of high caliber pieces to suit a broad range of collectors, unlike the auctions which are limited to a certain number of objects, regions and price points.

The Arader Gallery is located at 1016 Madison Avenue (between 78th and 79th streets) in New York City.