Robert Soppelsa

Region of Interest

Africa

Primary Country of Residence

Côte d'Ivoire

Title

Senior Curator/Art in Embassies

Affiliation

U.S. State Department

Email

soppelsart@state.gov

Mailing Address

4201 Cathedral Avenue NW, Apartment 405W
Washington, DC 20016 USA

Phone/Fax Number(s)

(Home) 1-202-363-8584
(Work) 1-703-875-4197

Countries of Specialization

Cote d'Ivoire
Nigeria (Benin)
Modern Africa

Education

BA (International Studies): Ohio State University, 1968
MA (History) New York University, 1971
MA (History of Art), Ohio State University, 1974
PhD (History of Art), Ohio State University, 1982

Research Interests

Classical African arts, especially of western Africa, concentrating in Cote d'Ivoire)
Relationships between classical and modern/contemporary arts in Africa
Art in the service of diplomacy

Teaching Interests

General World Art History

Publications

“Ceramic Art and Diplomacy,” NCECA Journal 2008, volume XXIX: 84-87, 134. With Karen Koblitz.
“Seated Male Figure, An Mblo Mask, and An Unguent Container.” In Kristina van @#!*% , ed., African Arts from the Menil Collection. Houston: The Menil Collection 2008: 110-115.
“Go Paint! An Essay on the Paintings of George Soppelsa.” In Raymond Tubbs, ed., How to See Through a Brick/Wie blickt man durch einen Ziegelstein: the work of George Soppelsa. Cologne: Verlag der Inter Art Galerie Reich, 2007: 7-13.
Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronze Relief Plaques from the Kingdom of Benin (in preparation).
"A Comparison of Baulé and Senufo Pottery Techniques and Forms." In Christopher Roy, ed., Clay and Fire: Pottery in Africa, Iowa Studies in African Art #4 (2000): 213-227.
"African Clay and Mud," MacMillan Dictionary of Art (1996) I: 285-86, 330-31.
"Two Relief Sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin," Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts,
LXX , #1-2 (1996): 44-49.
"Elizabeth Layton," Art Journal LIII, #1 (Spring 1994): 53-55. With Don Lambert.
"A Mma in the Metropolitan Museum of Art," African Arts XXIII, #3 (July 1990): 77-78.
"An Asante Sculpture," Muse XXIII: Annual of the Museum of Art and Archaeology. Columbia, Missouri (1988): 107-122.
"Western Art-Historical Methodology and African Art: Panofsky's Paradigm and Ivorian Mma," The Art Journal XLVII, #2 (Summer 1988): 147-153.
"Assongu: A Terracotta Tradition of Southeastern Ivory Coast," Africa: Journal of the International Society of Africanists, 57, #1 (March 1989): 51-73.
"Looking at African Art: An Interview with Robert Soppelsa," The News #2. Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia (Summer 1985).

Keywords

Cote d'Ivoire, ceramic arts, Benin royal arts, modern African Art, Art and diplomacy