A tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2

In his later years Sieber was critical of "the tendency [of researchers] to lose touch with the object" through projects that, in an effort to secure research funding, placed too much attention on proving an existing theory or "inventing" a new one. He believed in conducting research, gathering data, and then creating one's own theories and checking them with the data. He admitted that his emphasis on contextual studies may also be partly to blame.

But never did I intend that one should lose touch with the object and the concept of the aesthetic in the society that produces it. Now it's true that it is much easier to ask, "what does this mean?" and ask people questions that are appropriate to answering that question, without seeking to understand "why this object?" or "why this object in preference to that object?" ...This line of inquiry is very difficult, and we've either been too lazy or too fearful to follow it. (Sieber 1993:4-5)

Collecting and Connoisseurship

Connoisseurship and collecting go hand in hand, and Roy Sieber was a shining example of this partnership. His wife, Sophie, remarked to me that she could

6. Power figure (nkisi n'konde). Kongo peoples, Democratic Republic ot the Congo. Wood, iron, pigment; 102iScn] (40.5") Indiana University Art Museum. 77.29. This sculpture was once a fixture in the Sieber household, where it was named Robert never understand why all art historian or an artist would not want to collect and be surrounded by beautiful objects. Clearly, that was never a concern for the Siebers, whose house remains a wonderful accumulation of artworks and memorabilia (Fig. 5). Sieber characterized his and Sophie's taste as that of a "generalist": "The word 'eclectic' comes to mind, but it is the eclectic of an aesthetic which is ours, and which can range from complete abstraction to total naturalism. I don't see why art has any boundaries.... Soph and I call be as idiosyncratic as we damn well please in our own house" (in Ross 1992:41M2).

Sieber distinguished between the idiosyncratic goals and personal tastes that usually motivate private collectors and the more encompassing strategies adopted by public institutions charged with building collections that represent a range of art forms and eras. In acquiring objects for museums as well as for himself, he recognized the "angst" that comes from our acknowledgment of "the cultural ownership of objects, which is separate from the physical ownership of objects."

I say frequently that almost every African work of art we see in a museum has been ripped out of its own private historical context, its own cycle of life. It was made, used until it was used up, and replaced. So, we have something prior to that replacement, In one sense I am delighted that the object is there for me to study and learn about....That is...the virtue of scholarship. But that virtue can itself become an immoral virtue when it is used to justify everything that has been ripped off. (in Ross 1992:44)