african artAfrican art, is defined as the visual arts of native Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, including such media as sculpture, painting, pottery, rock art, textiles, masks, personal decoration, and jewelry.

African art, is defined as the visual arts of native Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, including such media as sculpture, painting, pottery, rock art, textiles, masks, personal decoration, and jewelry.
A lot of people are fascinated with African art because of its unique features and designs that reflect the rich and diverse culture and history of different African tribes and places. This type of art comes in various forms such as sculptures, masks, paintings, and dolls.
1. Stylized Realism��When you look at different pieces of African art, you'll notice that many resemble the human figure or sometimes combine humans and animals. However, they are not depicted realistically but with stylized designs. For instance, dolls may look like human beings with disproportionate body parts.

1. ARTS OF AFRICA

2. African art, is defined as the visual arts of native Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, including such media as sculpture , painting , pottery , rock art , textiles , masks, personal decoration, and jewelry.

3. A lot of people are fascinated with African art because of its unique features and designs that reflect the rich and diverse culture and history of different African tribes and places. This type of art comes in various forms such as sculptures, masks, paintings, and dolls.

4. 1. Stylized Realism When you look at different pieces of African art, you'll notice that many resemble the human figure or sometimes combine humans and animals. However, they are not depicted realistically but with stylized designs. For instance, dolls may look like human beings with disproportionate body parts.

5. 2. Dynamic Form Elongated necks, enlarged heads and arms, pointed breasts, and the like are often found in human being forms which are frequently the subject of African art. These are examples of the notable dynamic forms in this art, representing vitality, power, and boldness of humanity.

6. 3. Elaborate Details You will also discover how African art exhibits fine craftsmanship, with the elaborate details done obviously with precision and skill. Indeed these things are the ones that also contribute to the distinct quality of the artworks.

7. 4. Geometric Figure There are plenty of African art pieces that show geometric themes, figures, and patterns. In a mask, for example, you can see a recurrence of ovals, circles, and curves that work together to make the overall effect more striking and unified.

8. 5. Youthful Appearance Part of African culture is the emphasis on health, vitality, physical strength, and youthfulness. This is why a lot of human figures shown in the art displays youthfulness. This can be traced back to the ancient times when many Africans lived off-land and had to be strong enough to hunt, build, and perform other duties.

9. Discovery of African Art

10. Throughout the nineteenth century, European powers colonized the African continent, taking control of tribal lands from original inhabitants and exploiting Africa's natural resources for political and economic gain. As soldiers, missionaries, and administrators rotated through these captured lands, they collected objects that they later took back to Europe.

11. By the 1870s, museums and scientific institutions were exhibiting African objects as ethnographic artifacts of less civilized people: these objects were not appreciated for their aesthetic or expressive qualities, and there was no understanding of their meanings .

12. Organizers of the Universal Exhibition of 1900 (a world fair) in Paris included African statues and masks. Public reaction was a mix of awe and horror at what they perceived to be gruesome savage objects.

13. But an increasing number of artists, many interested in breaking from the norms of the art world at the time, began turning to African art for inspiration. By 1905, artists in Paris and Germany began to reflect influence of African art in their work.

14. African Art influence on modern art movements

15. The increasing presence of African art in Europe came at a time when many Western artists were searching for a new artistic vocabulary. In Paris, artists in movements like Cubism (think Pablo Picasso) and Fauvism, of which Henri Matisse was involved, rejected Realism in favor of bold colors and forms. Picasso and Matisse collected African art and the latter traveled to North Africa in 1906.

16. In Germany, Expressionists like Emil Nolde wanted to explore human psychology and states of mind through art, ideas not effectively conveyed through copying nature. These artists were very influenced by African art, especially sculpture and masks, although they might not have understood the objects' deep meanings to their creators.

17. Title Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon, originally titled The Brothel of Avignon ) Artist Pablo Picasso Year 1907 Medium Oil on canvas

18. In Picasso's famous painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon , you can see African influence in the faces of two figures on the right of the canvas that have been rendered with the angular features of African masks. It's also evident in the way the human forms and surrounding spaces are fractured and distorted.

19. Title Natura morta con maschere III Artist Emil Nolde Year 1911 Medium Oil on canvas

20. Likewise, in a painting of masks by Emil Nolde , Natura morta con maschere III , bold colors and exaggerated expressions, with geometric simplified facial features, echo elements found in masks from African cultures.

21. Another artist influenced by African art was Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani, who lived in Paris the same time as Picasso and Matisse. Modigliani created angular elongated figures with geometric patterning on their bodies that clearly reflect African influence.

22. European influence on African Art Often we hear about the influence of African art on 20th century Modernist movements; most notably, cubism. Now-famous artists such as Picasso and Matisse were two of many who were intrigued and inspired by and even collected the highly stylized and abstract art forms emerging from Africa during the 1900s; but what of the opposite ? Was African art ever influenced by European contact?

23. As early as 1400 B.C, Africa already had contact with Europe. - Explorers - Traders - Missionaries - Colonialists

24. Queen Mother Pendant Mask ( Iyoba ), 16th century, Edo peoples, Court of Benin, Nigeria, ivory, iron, copper, 23.8 x 12.7 x 8.3 cm

25. Look closely at the top of the mask. Do you see faces? These represent Portuguese explorers with beards and hats (flanked by mudfish) who visited the Benin Kingdom along the west coast of Africa in the late 1400s.

26. Fort Jesus, Mombasa. The Portuguese, for example, brought medieval European fortress architecture to Africa