African art
- Ceremonial sculpture, masks, and crafts
produced by African tribal cultures,
as well as by the African cultures of colonial and post-colonial
periods. Generally African art means sub-Saharan art, with the
cultures of Africa's northern parts typically referred to as Egyptian and North
African.
Making generalizations about the visual culture of any group of people is a crude endeavor, especially with a culture as diverse as Africa's. With this thought in mind, know that this survey, as any must be, is tremendously limited in its breadth and depth.
Examples of African art:
Ife (Yoruba), Nigeria, Shrine Head, 12th century - 14th century,
terra cotta, 12 x 5 3/4 x
7 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Mali, Bougouni or Dioila area, Bamana peoples,
Mother and Child, 15th-20th century,
wood, height
48 5/8 inches (123.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Nigeria, Edo peoples, Court of Benin, Pendant Mask: Iyoba, 16th century, ivory, iron, copper,
height 9 3/8 inches (23.8
cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See mask and pendant.
Nigeria, Edo peoples, Court of Benin, Head
of an Oba, c. 1575-1650, bronze, 9 3/4 x 7 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches,
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
Mali, Dogon peoples, Seated Couple, 16th-19th century, wood, metal,
height 28 3/4 inches (73
cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Zaïre, Kuba, Bushoong, Mask with Head Cloth, Ngady Mwaash, 19th century CE, wood, fiber, cowrie shells, cloth, beads, skin, pigment, 17 3/8 x 11 1/2 x 7 inches (44 x 29 x 18 cm), Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory U, Atlanta, GA. See mask.
Cameroon, Eastern Grassfields, Kingdom of
Bamum, Helmet Mask, 19th century, wood,
copper, glass beads, fiber,
cowrie shells, height 26
inches (66 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Buli Master (Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Luba, active c. 1850-1900), Caryatid Stool, 19th century, wood,
metal studs, height
24 inches (61 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See caryatid.
Angola, Chokwe peoples, Seated Chief, 19th century, wood,
fiber, glass,
beads, height 16 3/4 inches
(42.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Ghana, Blanket, 19th century, cotton, wool,
51 inches x 10 feet (129.5 x 304.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of
Art, NY. See textile.
Sierra Leone, Mende, Sowo Mask, late 19th - early 20th centuries CE, wood, raffia, copper alloy, 25 x 7 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (63.5 x 19 x 22 cm), Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory U, Atlanta, GA.
Nigeria, Yoruba, Ohori, Efe/Gelede Headdress, Apasa, late 19th - early 20th centuries CE, wood, pigment. 16 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 13 inches (42 x 26 x 33 cm), Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory U, Atlanta, GA.
Nigeria, Benin people, Ruler's Ancestor Altar, c. 1914. See
altar.
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Baule peoples, Diviner's Figure, 19th-20th century, wood, pigment, beads, iron, height 21 13/16 inches (55.4 cm) and 20 2/3 inches (52.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Senufo
peoples, Mask, 19th-20th century, wood,
horn, fiber,
cotton, feather, metal,
sacrificial material, height
of mask 14 1/8 inches (35.9 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art,
NY. See mask.
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kongo peoples,
Commemorative Male Figure, 19th-early
20th century, wood, glass,
metal, kaolin, height
11 1/2 inches (29.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Gabon, Fang peoples, Reliquary Head (Nlo Bieri), 19th-20th
century, wood, metal,
oil, height
18 5/16 inches (46.5 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See
reliquary.
Nigeria/Cameroon, Mambila, Painting, late 19th - early 20th centuries, pigment on raffia palm wood, 32 x 45 inches (81.3 x 114. 3 cm), Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory U, Atlanta, GA.
Nigeria, Lower Cross River, Ejagham peoples,
Headdress, 19th-20th century, wood,
leather, metal, bone, fiber,
paint, height 10 31/32 inches
(27.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See mask.
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Songye
peoples, Power Figure, 19th-20th century, wood, copper,
brass, iron, fiber,
snakeskin, leather,
fur, feathers,
earth, resin, height
39 inches (99.1 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Burkina Faso, Yatenga region, Mossi peoples,
Mask with Female Figure (Karan-wemba),
19th-20th century, wood, metal, height
29 1/2 inches (74.9 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See
mask.
Cameroon, Grassfields, Kom, Laikom, Beaded Bowl Figure, c. 1900, wood, beads, 28 x 14 x 12 inches (70.6 x 35.3 x 30.5 cm), Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory U, Atlanta, GA.
Mali, Bamana, Male and Female Antelope Headdresses (Tji Wara), 20th century, wood, twine, and metal: male figure's height 33 1/4 inches (84.5 cm.); female figure's height 26 7/8 inches (68.3 cm.), North Carolina Art Museum, Raleigh.
Nigeria, Ibibio, Annang, Shrine Figure, "Mami Wata", 20th century, wood, kaolin, pigment, paint, 34 1/4 x 24 x 10 inches (87 x 61 x 25 cm), Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory U, Atlanta, GA.
Olowe of Ise (Nigeria, Ekiti region, Yoruba, c. 1873-1938), Caryatid Post: Equestrian, before 1938,
wood, pigment,
height 71 inches (180.3
cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See caryatid.
Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Senufo People,
Ceremonial Drum (Pinge), 1930-50, wood, hide,
pigment, 48 3/8 x 19 3/8
inches (122.9 x 49.2 cm), Art Institute of Chicago.
Ogbomoso, Nigeria, Yoruba, Egungun Costume, c. 1930-60, cloth, wood, and buttons, height c. 60 inches (152.4 cm), North Carolina Art Museum, Raleigh. A view of the back. See costume.
Zlan (Côte d'Ivoire, Dan peoples, -1960), Female Figure, before 1960, wood,
fiber, pigment,
cloth, metal, height
23 inches (58.4 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
Skunder (Alexander) Boghossian (Ethiopian, 1937-), Night Flight of Dread and Delight, 1964, oil on canvas with collage, 56 5/8 x 62 5/8 inches (143.8 x 159.1 cm), North Carolina Art Museum, Raleigh.
Wangechi Mutu (Kenyan, 1972-), Yo Mama, 2003, a diptych of cut-and-pasted printed paper, cut-and-pasted pressure-sensitive synthetic polymer sheet, synthetic polymer paint, and pencil with glitter on two sheets of painted paper, 59 1/8 x 85 inches (150.2 x 215.9 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Also see Afrocentrism, Egyptian art, ethnic, and mask.
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