Gallery of African Art

Highlights

African art constitutes one of the most diverse legacies on earth. It embodies one of humanity’s greatest achievements - fusing visual imagery with spiritual beliefs and social purpose. Its technicality and artistry bear witness to the creative ingenuity of its makers. Though many casual observers tend to generalize “traditional” African art, the continent is full of people, societies, and civilizations, each with a unique visual special culture. Despite this diversity, there are some unifying artistic themes when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.

Emphasis on the human figure: The human figure is generally the primary subject matter for most African art. The portrayal of the human form is not necessarily proportional, but often strives to emphasize or even overemphasize specific bodily characteristics depending on the purpose that the artwork is destined to serve. The human figure may symbolize the living or the dead, and may reference chiefs, dancers or various trades such as drummers or hunters, or even may be an anthropomorphic representation of a god.

Visual abstraction: African artworks typically demonstrate visual abstraction rather than naturalistic representation. Many artistic traditions generalize stylistic norms because the crafted object is usually intended to convey ideas. The supernatural world, ancestral figures and spiritual representations are all common themes, all of which would be difficult or impossible to portray accurately or realistically. Instead, artworks were meant to evoke an idea or to convey a particular message. Emphasis on sculpture: African artists often favor three-dimensional artworks over two-dimensional works. Most African sculptures are not decorative objects to be sold in the marketplace; instead they are often intended to commemorate an important event, portray religious values, or to make a political statement. As such, aesthetic qualities are not adjudged to be of the utmost importance in African sculpture, rather they valued by their ability to effectively fulfill their function as communication tools.

Animism: The belief in animism is probably one of man’s oldest, with its origin most likely dating to the Paleolithic age. From its beginnings, animism was the belief that a soul or spirit exists in every object. Animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers or other entities of the natural environment were all thought to have spirits, and therefore spirit was thought to be universal. Good spirits helped to protect humans and assist them by providing rain needed for crops, as well as fish and game animals used for food. Evil spirits were believed to be responsible for illness, premature death and other forms of suffering and misfortune.