Large panel, resembling a woven textile from a distance but revealed upon close inspection to be a mosaic of shells. Possibly inspired by African cloth. Approx. 62 1/2" x 47 1/2" x 1 1/2". Benes's work can be found in many public and private collections, including the Chicago Art Institute and Smithsonian Institution. After he died of AIDS in 2012, his amazing Greenwich Village apartment, including his impressive collection of African art, was recreated piece by piece at the North Dakota Museum of Art. Thomas McNemar and Barton Benes were very good friends, and this piece was acquired by McNemar directly from the artist. Provenance: Estate of Thomas McNemar, (1931-2019.) McNemar lived and collected throughout Central and West Africa in the 1960s and 70s. He established galleries of African Art in New York and San Francisco, selling to museums and public and private collections in the United States and Europe.