| Primal Art |
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20 May 2005, for Science On the block at Bonhams auction house in London, alongside a Renoir sculpture and a William Wegman photo of a dog in a flight suit, are three abstract paintings by an artist named "Congo the Chimp."  Congo did the work in the mid-1950s under the tutelage of zoologist Desmond Morris, who was studying primates' sense of aesthetics. When Morris got the paintings displayed in London's Institute of Contemporary Art, some felt the exhibit mocked modern art. "The art world should take these seriously," says primatologist Franz de Waal of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. "I always felt Congo had it down. He had a sense of color, composition, and completion." Qualities of his work show neurological commonalities with humans, de Waal says, such as a sense of symmetry. It's estimated the trio will fetch $1100 to $1500 at the 20 June auction. CREDIT: BONHAMS AUCTIONEERS |