This year has seen the passing of two greats in the tribal art world. James Willis and Jimmy Economos each spent many years working to promote tribal art through countless exhibitions, presentations and collections. They will be missed.
James Willis
1934 - 2019
James Willis was a preeminent dealer of African, Oceanic and Indonesian tribal art in the United States for greater than 45 years. He was the first in the United States to feature important themed exhibits on specialized subjects in his Geary Street gallery in San Francisco that could never be assembled again today. The 1979 “Art of the Batak” being an example of a historic show that revealed the masterful art of this previously obscure Sumatran headhunting tribe and changed the way the world viewed the subject; this exhibit has never been equaled. So too with countless other special presentations, offered over a career that spanned a time when the art was both available and relatively affordable, as he said, the “Golden Age” to be a tribal art dealer.
James Willis, known and respected for his expertise, integrity and fair-trading, builder of fine private and public collections, was also an advisor to three Presidents on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee at the Department of State. James Willis, husband, father, friend and mentor once told me, “If it can be said at an art dealer’s funeral that he never sold fakes and paid his bills on time, he was a success…” James Willis was so much more.
-Thomas Murray
In 2015, James Willis was awarded the ATADA Lifetime Achievement Award. Click here to read a tribute to James in celebration of this award, written by Thomas Murray; as well as an interview with James by Michael Auliso from Tribalmania Gallery.
A memorial for James, written by Lin Chen-Willis, can be found on the San Francisco Tribal website. https://www.sftribal.com/dealers/james-willis/
Jimmy Economos
1939-2019
“James Economos, the legendary art dealer, passed away peacefully on July 29 at the age of 80. His husband of 50 years, Gilbert Hampton, was at his side. Born in New York City, James studied at Columbia University. His eye for African, Oceanic, and American Indian art established him as a leader in the field and had a major impact on the development of many significant public and private collections, including the renowned collection at the St. Louis Art Museum. After living in New York and Denver, he settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he had an eponymous gallery.”
The full memorial for Jimmy can be found at: http://artdaily.cc/news/116029/James-Economos--A-life-remembered#.Xai8PpNKhTY