Current director Carlo Bella plans to continue the business under his own name, following the sale of Pace Editions.

But the mask turned out to be a rare piece of African art — a 19th-century ... "Only a person with a perfect knowledge of the art market is capable of mounting a sale through an auction house ...

The sale of the work is indicative of the strong interest in contemporary African art, which is now seeing a growing market for abstract work. "We are moving beyond that initial phase to something ...

Gabon had separately requested that the sale of the mask be halted on the ... Tens of thousands of works of African art are held outside the continent. Most were removed during the colonial ...