Kachina dolls, embodying the beliefs, social structure and moral values of the Native American Hopi have fascinated and inspired artists for a century.
Andre Breton, the founder of the surrealist movement, started collecting Kachinas in 1927 and established their place in the art world when he featured a Kachina on the poster for an exhibition of Surrealist objects in Paris in 1936. Many artists soon wished, in Breton's words, to "accede" to a newly discovered system of knowledge and cultural relationships: Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Roberto Matta, Jorge Camacho and Harold and Louise Corbusier all owned Kachinas.
Horst Antes, one of Germany's best-known 20th-century artists, has spent a lifetime collecting hundreds of these mystical dolls. In "Horst Antes and Kachinas" currently at the Iwate Museum of Modern Art, a retrospective of Antes' painting and sculpture is shown in context with 79 Kachina dolls from Antes' definitive collection.