Dealer Donald Ellis had a good opening night party on Thursday as the two masks that were the stars of his booth sold to separate collectors:

the two extraordinary Eskimo masks from the estate of the Surrealist artist Enrico Donati (1909-2008) sold to two different North American private collectors.   Arguably the most important Native American objects to be offered for sale since the 1940s, they were sold by Donald Ellis Gallery for well in excess of $4 million, establishing new record prices in the field.

Yup’ik Eskimo masks are possibly the highest form of expression of Native American art and profoundly influenced the Surrealist artists who had escaped Paris in the Second World War and settled in New York.