Early African Art: Difference between revisions

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[https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art by Janet B. Hess Britannica]

It is difficult to give a useful summary of the main characteristics of the art of sub-Saharan Africa. The variety of forms and practices is so great that the attempt to do so results in a series of statements that turn out to be just as true of, for example, Western art. Thus, some African art has value as entertainment; some has political or ideological significance; some is instrumental in a ritual context; and some has aesthetic value in itself.

=====African art=====

[https://www.famsf.org/collections/african-art?page=1 by Legion of Honor]

Featuring approximately 300 world-class objects, our collection highlights the evolution of culture and creativity in Africa.

=====African Art: The First Form of Cubism=====

[https://www.thecollector.com/african-art-the-first-form-of-cubism/ by Carolina Sanmiguel 3/10/20 THE COLLECTOR]

With their vital sculptures and masks, African artists invented the aesthetics that would later inspire the so-popular Cubist styles. Their abstract and dramatic effects on the simplified human figure date far earlier than the most-celebrated Picasso and extend beyond the Cubism movement itself. African art’s influence reaches from Fauvism to Surrealism, Modernism to Abstract Expressionism, and even contemporary art.

=====Who is the First African Artist in Africa?=====

[https://dolapoobatgallery.com/blog/who-is-the-first-african-artist-in-africa by DOLAPO OBAT]

Ever wondered who the first famous artist was to emerge from Africa? We're not talking ancient Egyptian art or prehistoric cave paintings here. We mean the first contemporary artist to gain international fame and recognition for their work.

=====Magnificence of Ancient African Art: The Rich Heritage and Cultural Significance=====

[https://www.berjartgallery.com/news/magnificence-of-ancient-african-art-the-rich-heritage/ by BERJ]

In ancient Africa, sculptures played a prominent role in artistic expression. The skilled artisans of the time utilized various materials such as wood, bronze, terracotta, and ivory to create magnificent sculptures that continue to inspire awe to this day. These sculptures often took the form of masks, statues, and figurines, each with its own symbolic and cultural significance.

=====Early African Art=====

[https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/early-african-art/TgIyi4Xde9QhKg by Google Arts & Culture]

Ushabti of Senkamanisken's sarcophagus shows the influence of Egyptian burials had spread to Sudan. Uses hieroglyphic inscriptions on the sarcophagus.

=====Ancient African Art | History, Paintings & Sculptures=====

[https://study.com/academy/lesson/characteristics-of-ancient-african-art.html by Study.com]

The earliest form of art in Africa would be the Blombos Cave engravings. These are believed to have been created by the ancient bushmen (Khoisan people).

=====African sculpture=====

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_sculpture by WIKIPEDIA]

Most African sculpture from regions south of the Sahara was historically made of wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, while older pottery figures are found from a number of areas. Masks have been important elements in the cultural traditions of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized. There is a vast variety of styles, often varying within the same context of origin and depending on the use of the object.

=====Africa’s art materials=====

[https://thinkafrica.net/african-art-materials/ by Editorial Team 2/4/19 Africa’s art materials]

African art predates written history. From tens of thousands of years before recorded history people in Africa have been creating various works of art utilizing different materials. This is not particularly surprising given that the modern homo sapiens originated from Africa. The oldest art in the world was a shell necklace found in the Cave of Pigeons in Taforalt, eastern Morocco. This shell necklace is also the oldest example of abstract art in the world (1)

=====African sculpture=====

[https://www.contemporary-african-art.com/african-sculpture.html by Contemporary African Art]

African sculpture is most often figurative, representing the human form and fashioned primarily from wood but it can also be stylized and abstracted and carved from stone. It can span centuries and be as ancient as the advent of tools and it can be as modern as right now, today, where it is lauded and appreciated as a contemporary art form.

=====African Art | join us on this journey through the History of Art in Africa | Online Course=====

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkbmrIk2yqs by Citaliarestauro YouTube=====

African Art | Online Course | International certificate | Access 24 hours a day

In the next few minutes, join us on this journey through the History of Art in Africa

The history of art in Africa takes us back to the origins of humanity, the cradle of civilization, the first signs of human cognition, of interacting with the material world and creating visual symbols that represent and interpret them.

=====Traditional African Art=====

[https://www.artsy.net/gene/traditional-african-art]

A broad museological category for the traditional art of sub-Saharan Africa, this category brings together the diverse material culture (including everything from sculpture to textiles to everyday items) of hundreds of disparate groups across Africa. After centuries of being relegated to ethnological displays and curio cabinets, traditional African art entered into the European consciousness (and museums) as “art” at the turn of the 20th century, in part through its association with the European avant-garde.

=====A Look at Ancient African Art and Its Influence on Modern Works=====

[https://www.invaluable.com/blog/a-look-at-ancient-african-art-and-its-influence-on-modern-works/?srsltid=AfmBOorQ9IfTpCoa6VCfU6FUISr6PtpNK9Mxe1KZYXam8nV9R0H53kYR by invaluable]

Located on the southwest coast of Africa, the Apollo 11 caves housed slabs of rock displaying representations of animals. These works of African rock art were engraved in stone and painted in charcoal and red, yellow, and white pigments. Dating back to around 25,500 B.C.E., these stones are among the oldest known art objects from the entire African continent.

=====The Arts of Pre-Colonial Africa=====

[https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/frank-davis-memorial-lecture-series/the-arts-of-pre-colonial-africa/ by Frank Davis Memorial Lectures 2019 The Courtauld]

The 2019 Frank Davis Memorial Series invited four distinguished speakers to share new research in African art before the continent-wide colonialisation of the nineteenth century. Looking at the African material on its own terms rather than in light of Europe while also allowing us to understand the intercontinental and wider networks: the ways in which its various kingdoms centred themselves and connected with cultural worlds beyond.

=====African Art – Looking at African Artwork from Early Humankind to Today=====

[https://artincontext.org/african-art/ by Chrisél Attewell 26/8/21 ART IN CONTEXT]

Various fossils were unearthed at the Sterkfontein Caves, importantly the skull of an early human that has been named “Mrs. Ples”, found by John T. Robinson and Robert Broom in 1947. The skull is estimated to be over two million years old, and while it was thought to be a woman at first, some scientists have speculated that it was a male.

=====The earliest known form of African art is:=====

[https://brainly.com/question/21037443 by MAKE SCHOOL EASY WITH BRAINLY]

87% of students report better grades with Brainly

=====Unveiling Africa's Earliest Art=====

[https://www.tingatingaart.com/blogs/articles/unveiling-africas-earliest-art?srsltid=AfmBOooBQjC1CXVvSbpTkdOKXDAP8KFJPyg88ZZG5uREKdakRdCwJr6Q by TINGA TINGA ART 14/6/23]

=====Historical overview: from the 1600s to the present=====

[https://uen.pressbooks.pub/arth2720/chapter/need-african-art-section/ by uen]

Western trade with Africa was not limited to material goods such as copper, cloth, and beads. By the sixteenth century, the transatlantic slave trade had already begun, forcibly bringing Africans to the newly discovered Americas.

=====Sculpture and associated arts=====

[https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art/Sculpture-and-associated-arts by Frank Willett Britannica]

Although wood is the best-known medium of African sculpture, many others are employed: copper alloys, iron, ivory, pottery, unfired clay, and, infrequently, stone. Unfired clay is—and probably always was—the most widely used medium in the whole continent, but, partly because it is so fragile and therefore difficult to collect, it has been largely ignored in the literature. Small figurines of fired clay were excavated in a mound at Daima near Lake Chad in levels dating from the 5th century bce or earlier, while others were found in Zimbabwe in deposits of the later part of the 1st millennium CE.

=====Before the Renaissance: African Art in the Age of Antiquity=====

[https://www.monroeblackheritagemuseum.org/blog/african-art-in-antiquity by Art & Heritage]

Long before the first brushstroke of a Raphael or da Vinci, African artists were casting bronze, carving stone, and shaping spiritual and social life through forms of astonishing power and sophistication. While many museums and textbooks still trace the origins of “high art” to the European Renaissance, the truth is far older, more global—and far more African.

=====Unit 1: African art, an introduction=====

[https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/african-art-introduction by Khan Academy]

Historical overviews of the art of Africa

=====African art before and after colonialism=====

[https://lasujoh.org.ng/storage/articles/O18N5237xNeTqRW5mlRZ71vR0QyvObQvcsXAl3Zh.pdf]

Africa is a vast continent of diverse cultures that manifest in everything they

do, and such cultural manifestations can be observed in their art, marriage,

kinship, law, among others. Based on this, this essay dwelt on African art, and

it was examined in two epochal periods, viz; before the advent of colonialism,

and after colonialism (during colonialism inclusive). Qualitative research

design was adopted for the study, using historical and descriptive approaches

=====Early African Art=====

[https://www.pinterest.com/garnerkristen/early-african-art/ by

Kristen Garner Pinterest]

=====History of African Art from Ancient Traditions to Modern Expression=====

[https://www.tilmagazine.com.ng/2025/05/history-of-african-art-from-ancient.html by TIL MAGAZINE 20/5/25]

African art history is one of the richest and most diverse visual traditions in the world, deeply embedded in the cultural, spiritual, and social fabric of the continent. The evolution of African art—from ancient carvings to modern installations—reflects a profound journey shaped by tradition, colonial disruption, and global recognition. From prehistoric rock paintings in Algeria’s Tassili n’Ajjer and South Africa’s Drakensberg Mountains, African artists have always used visual expression to document their world, celebrate rituals, and communicate with the spiritual realm. These early forms of traditional African art were far more than decorative, they were essential to survival, storytelling, and belief systems.

=====Unpacking Medieval African Art’s Profound Global Legacy=====

[https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-unpacking-medieval-african-arts-profound-global-legacy by Niama Safia Sandy 21/1/19 Art]

In popular discourse, the arts of Africa are positioned as having been discovered, interpolated, and folded into major Western art movements for the first time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rise of modern art was concurrent with the “Scramble for Africa,” which officially began at the Berlin Conference in 1884, when European powerheads divided and claimed ownership over the majority of the nearly 12 million square miles that comprise the continent.

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@@ Line 194: / Line 194: @@
 [https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art by Janet B. Hess Britannica]
   It is difficult to give a useful summary of the main characteristics of the art of sub-Saharan Africa. The variety of forms and practices is so great that the attempt to do so results in a series of statements that turn out to be just as true of, for example, Western art. Thus, some African art has value as entertainment; some has political or ideological significance; some is instrumental in a ritual context; and some has aesthetic value in itself.
+=====African art=====
+[https://www.famsf.org/collections/african-art?page=1 by Legion of Honor]
+ Featuring approximately 300 world-class objects, our collection highlights the evolution of culture and creativity in Africa.
+=====African Art: The First Form of Cubism=====
+[https://www.thecollector.com/african-art-the-first-form-of-cubism/ by Carolina Sanmiguel 3/10/20 THE COLLECTOR]
+ With their vital sculptures and masks, African artists invented the aesthetics that would later inspire the so-popular Cubist styles. Their abstract and dramatic effects on the simplified human figure date far earlier than the most-celebrated Picasso and extend beyond the Cubism movement itself. African art’s influence reaches from Fauvism to Surrealism, Modernism to Abstract Expressionism, and even contemporary art.
+=====Who is the First African Artist in Africa?=====
+[https://dolapoobatgallery.com/blog/who-is-the-first-african-artist-in-africa by DOLAPO OBAT]
+ Ever wondered who the first famous artist was to emerge from Africa? We're not talking ancient Egyptian art or prehistoric cave paintings here. We mean the first contemporary artist to gain international fame and recognition for their work.
+=====Magnificence of Ancient African Art: The Rich Heritage and Cultural Significance=====
+[https://www.berjartgallery.com/news/magnificence-of-ancient-african-art-the-rich-heritage/ by BERJ]
+ In ancient Africa, sculptures played a prominent role in artistic expression. The skilled artisans of the time utilized various materials such as wood, bronze, terracotta, and ivory to create magnificent sculptures that continue to inspire awe to this day. These sculptures often took the form of masks, statues, and figurines, each with its own symbolic and cultural significance.
+=====Early African Art=====
+[https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/early-african-art/TgIyi4Xde9QhKg by Google Arts & Culture]
+ Ushabti of Senkamanisken's sarcophagus shows the influence of Egyptian burials had spread to Sudan. Uses hieroglyphic inscriptions on the sarcophagus.
+=====Ancient African Art | History, Paintings & Sculptures=====
+[https://study.com/academy/lesson/characteristics-of-ancient-african-art.html by Study.com]
+ The earliest form of art in Africa would be the Blombos Cave engravings. These are believed to have been created by the ancient bushmen (Khoisan people).
+=====African sculpture=====
+[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_sculpture by WIKIPEDIA]
+ Most African sculpture from regions south of the Sahara was historically made of wood and other organic materials that have not survived from earlier than a few centuries ago, while older pottery figures are found from a number of areas. Masks have been important elements in the cultural traditions of many peoples, along with human figures, often highly stylized. There is a vast variety of styles, often varying within the same context of origin and depending on the use of the object.
+=====Africa’s art materials=====
+[https://thinkafrica.net/african-art-materials/ by Editorial Team 2/4/19 Africa’s art materials]
+ African art predates written history. From tens of thousands of years before recorded history people in Africa have been creating various works of art utilizing different materials. This is not particularly surprising given that the modern homo sapiens originated from Africa. The oldest art in the world was a shell necklace found in the Cave of Pigeons in Taforalt, eastern Morocco. This shell necklace is also the oldest example of abstract art in the world (1)
+=====African sculpture=====
+[https://www.contemporary-african-art.com/african-sculpture.html by Contemporary African Art]
+ African sculpture is most often figurative, representing the human form and fashioned primarily from wood but it can also be stylized and abstracted and carved from stone. It can span centuries and be as ancient as the advent of tools and it can be as modern as right now, today, where it is lauded and appreciated as a contemporary art form.
+=====African Art | join us on this journey through the History of Art in Africa | Online Course=====
+[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkbmrIk2yqs by Citaliarestauro YouTube=====
+ African Art | Online Course | International certificate | Access 24 hours a day
+In the next few minutes, join us on this journey through the History of Art in Africa
+The history of art in Africa takes us back to the origins of humanity, the cradle of civilization, the first signs of human cognition, of interacting with the material world and creating visual symbols that represent and interpret them.
+=====Traditional African Art=====
+[https://www.artsy.net/gene/traditional-african-art]
+ A broad museological category for the traditional art of sub-Saharan Africa, this category brings together the diverse material culture (including everything from sculpture to textiles to everyday items) of hundreds of disparate groups across Africa. After centuries of being relegated to ethnological displays and curio cabinets, traditional African art entered into the European consciousness (and museums) as “art” at the turn of the 20th century, in part through its association with the European avant-garde.
+=====A Look at Ancient African Art and Its Influence on Modern Works=====
+[https://www.invaluable.com/blog/a-look-at-ancient-african-art-and-its-influence-on-modern-works/?srsltid=AfmBOorQ9IfTpCoa6VCfU6FUISr6PtpNK9Mxe1KZYXam8nV9R0H53kYR by invaluable]
+ Located on the southwest coast of Africa, the Apollo 11 caves housed slabs of rock displaying representations of animals. These works of African rock art were engraved in stone and painted in charcoal and red, yellow, and white pigments. Dating back to around 25,500 B.C.E., these stones are among the oldest known art objects from the entire African continent.
+=====The Arts of Pre-Colonial Africa=====
+[https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/frank-davis-memorial-lecture-series/the-arts-of-pre-colonial-africa/ by Frank Davis Memorial Lectures 2019 The Courtauld]
+ The 2019 Frank Davis Memorial Series invited four distinguished speakers to share new research in African art before the continent-wide colonialisation of the nineteenth century. Looking at the African material on its own terms rather than in light of Europe while also allowing us to understand the intercontinental and wider networks: the ways in which its various kingdoms centred themselves and connected with cultural worlds beyond.
+=====African Art – Looking at African Artwork from Early Humankind to Today=====
+[https://artincontext.org/african-art/ by Chrisél Attewell 26/8/21 ART IN CONTEXT]
+ Various fossils were unearthed at the Sterkfontein Caves, importantly the skull of an early human that has been named “Mrs. Ples”, found by John T. Robinson and Robert Broom in 1947. The skull is estimated to be over two million years old, and while it was thought to be a woman at first, some scientists have speculated that it was a male.
+=====The earliest known form of African art is:=====
+[https://brainly.com/question/21037443 by MAKE SCHOOL EASY WITH BRAINLY]
+% of students report better grades with Brainly
+=====Unveiling Africa's Earliest Art=====
+[https://www.tingatingaart.com/blogs/articles/unveiling-africas-earliest-art?srsltid=AfmBOooBQjC1CXVvSbpTkdOKXDAP8KFJPyg88ZZG5uREKdakRdCwJr6Q by TINGA TINGA ART 14/6/23]
+=====Historical overview: from the 1600s to the present=====
+[https://uen.pressbooks.pub/arth2720/chapter/need-african-art-section/ by uen]
+ Western trade with Africa was not limited to material goods such as copper, cloth, and beads. By the sixteenth century, the transatlantic slave trade had already begun, forcibly bringing Africans to the newly discovered Americas.
+=====Sculpture and associated arts=====
+[https://www.britannica.com/art/African-art/Sculpture-and-associated-arts by Frank Willett Britannica]
+ Although wood is the best-known medium of African sculpture, many others are employed: copper alloys, iron, ivory, pottery, unfired clay, and, infrequently, stone. Unfired clay is—and probably always was—the most widely used medium in the whole continent, but, partly because it is so fragile and therefore difficult to collect, it has been largely ignored in the literature. Small figurines of fired clay were excavated in a mound at Daima near Lake Chad in levels dating from the 5th century bce or earlier, while others were found in Zimbabwe in deposits of the later part of the 1st millennium CE.
+=====Before the Renaissance: African Art in the Age of Antiquity=====
+[https://www.monroeblackheritagemuseum.org/blog/african-art-in-antiquity by Art & Heritage]
+ Long before the first brushstroke of a Raphael or da Vinci, African artists were casting bronze, carving stone, and shaping spiritual and social life through forms of astonishing power and sophistication. While many museums and textbooks still trace the origins of “high art” to the European Renaissance, the truth is far older, more global—and far more African.
+=====Unit 1: African art, an introduction=====
+[https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/african-art-introduction by Khan Academy]
+ Historical overviews of the art of Africa
+=====African art before and after colonialism=====
+[https://lasujoh.org.ng/storage/articles/O18N5237xNeTqRW5mlRZ71vR0QyvObQvcsXAl3Zh.pdf]
+ Africa is a vast continent of diverse cultures that manifest in everything they
+do, and such cultural manifestations can be observed in their art, marriage,
+kinship, law, among others. Based on this, this essay dwelt on African art, and
+it was examined in two epochal periods, viz; before the advent of colonialism,
+and after colonialism (during colonialism inclusive). Qualitative research
+design was adopted for the study, using historical and descriptive approaches
+=====Early African Art=====
+[https://www.pinterest.com/garnerkristen/early-african-art/ by
+Kristen Garner Pinterest]
+=====History of African Art from Ancient Traditions to Modern Expression=====
+[https://www.tilmagazine.com.ng/2025/05/history-of-african-art-from-ancient.html by TIL MAGAZINE 20/5/25]
+ African art history is one of the richest and most diverse visual traditions in the world, deeply embedded in the cultural, spiritual, and social fabric of the continent. The evolution of African art—from ancient carvings to modern installations—reflects a profound journey shaped by tradition, colonial disruption, and global recognition. From prehistoric rock paintings in Algeria’s Tassili n’Ajjer and South Africa’s Drakensberg Mountains, African artists have always used visual expression to document their world, celebrate rituals, and communicate with the spiritual realm. These early forms of traditional African art were far more than decorative, they were essential to survival, storytelling, and belief systems.
+=====Unpacking Medieval African Art’s Profound Global Legacy=====
+[https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-unpacking-medieval-african-arts-profound-global-legacy by Niama Safia Sandy 21/1/19 Art]
+ In popular discourse, the arts of Africa are positioned as having been discovered, interpolated, and folded into major Western art movements for the first time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The rise of modern art was concurrent with the “Scramble for Africa,” which officially began at the Berlin Conference in 1884, when European powerheads divided and claimed ownership over the majority of the nearly 12 million square miles that comprise the continent.