What is African Art?

African Art became known to the world outside of Africa in the nineteenth century. It was immediately compared to existing western art and deemed “primitive Art”. Even the discovery of Old Stone Age paintings on the interior walls of caves late in the century did not dispel in total this theory. However, during the early twentieth century this new art form began to influence the works of known great European artists such as Picasso (see Featured Picture) and Matisse. This recognition occurred largely due to the collection of African artifacts by the early explorations of the Dark Continent funded by European colonial powers.

These explorations were done for many reasons: enforce the spread of Christianity, obtain resources, expansion of slavery, etc. The explorations were initially limited to the coastal areas because the continent’s interior was nearly impenetrable due to the Tetsi Fly, Malaria, and other diseases, and due to the lack of navigable waterways into the interior. Also many areas were ruled by fierce warrior kingdoms that resisted the newcomers until their spears and arrows were no match for forces using weapons of mass destruction.

These kingdoms slowly disappeared over time, some being absorbed by others, but most being swallowed up by western encroachment on their resources and traditions. Still, many of these great kingdoms left traces of their legacy because of age-old ceremonies that required worship via carvings, paintings, and other mediums. But what are these expressions? Why did the ancients carve but not write? What languages did they speak? What does these carved masks, statues, paintings mean and why did the African choose this medium? We will attempt to answer these questions and many more in future posts. Mzee

Collecting African Art

African art has been collected since the early 17th century. The term generally refers to art created by historical or contemporary artist living south of the Sahara. These artists represent a variety of African cultures having their own language, traditions and artistic forms. Ancient trade routes helped to influence African Art of the sub Saharan artist with artist from the North & East including Egypt.

African art also influenced and inspired European artist such as Matisse, Picasso, Derain,and others. For example, in the summer of 1906, during his stay in Gosol, Spain, Picassos work entered a new phase marked by the influence of Greek, Iberian, and African art. His celebrated protrait of Gertrude Stein (1905-1906, Metropolitan Museum of New York http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/modern_art/Gertrude_Stein/viewObject.aspx?&OID=210008443&PgSz=1 reveals a masklike treatment of her face. Moreover, Western artist of this century have admired both the African artists' emphasis on abstraction and freedom from naturalism.

The most ancient representations of African Art are the rock paintings and engravings from Tassilli and Ennedi in the Sahara (6,000 BC-1st Century AD). Other examples include Terra-Cotta sculptures produced by Nok artists in Central Nigeria between 500 BC and AD 200, (Metopolitan Museum of New York) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nok/hd_nok.htm and the Bronze works of Igbo Ukwu (9th-10th Century AD).

Materials

The most common materials included wood, fiber, metal (including Bronze, Iron & Gold), Ivory, Clay, Earth, Glass Beads, and Stone.
-Mzee