Apart from rock art, ancient artists in Africa prepared sculptures. One of the oldest sculptures in Africa was the extraordinary terracotta ceramic faces, many of which have worn out over time, recorded in western African country of Nigeria and are as old as 2,500 years or more. The sculptures are assembled using iron cast or even grog compounds though none of them exists in their initial form. They demonstrate a resilient spirit in the African culture that dates back to about 200 AD (Peter 89. Their stupendous formal characteristics and communicative eminence places them at a distinct position with reference to African art history. They are unique because they depict distortion and are uniquely designed depicting complicated hairstyles and embellishment. Terracotta carvings presently hold a critical but unique spot in world's artistic evolution.
Sokoto district in Nigeria has been identified as one place with sculptures of captivating sternness, some of which were produced in the period around 1st Century AD. The district could have emerged as a trade center (several trade routes cross through the town). The carvings are known to have a uniquely heavier crests and carry lesser decorations around their necks as compared to those found in the other Nigerian districts (Biler 72). Coincidentally, a town with a similar name in South Africa was found with carvings similar to the just described pieces. Archaeologists estimate that the art pieces could have been assembled around 500 AD identifying them as the earliest pieces in the southern end of the continent. There is very scanty information linking the sculpture work to a specific ethnic group though there is enough reason to assume that individuals who buried them in the earth's c...
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...e by the use of colorful patterns, especially the beautification of house walls, and a renewed passion towards spatial surroundings, settings that not only appeal to people on the basis of their convenience but also bond well with man's discernment. From the literature in the presiding paragraphs, it is clear that African art is broad and wide- extending from carvings, through weights to clothes. Some of the geometrical shapes used in modern-day schooling were devised by African artists. It can proudly be said that the history of African art has through the centuries shaped the art we currently witness all over the globe.
Works Cited
Biler, M. (2007). A History of Art in Africa. New York: McGraw Hill Books.
Bassani, Ezio. (2012). African Art. New York: Top Ten Publishers.
Peter, G. (2002). Early Art and Architecture of Africa. New York: Oxford University Press.
The authors talked about the two natural contexts that is used by prehistoric mud glyph artists: alluvial mud bank and thin clay veneers. The authors claim that they understand the used and the preservations of the alluvia...
Long before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic to the ‘New World’, the Western Hemisphere had already divided and developed civilizations. Some of these civilizations were extremely advanced for the time. As people settled in the Americas and developed cultures, so did differences in the life styles, religions, and art of these peoples. The cultures of Mesoamerica, South America, and North America all developed many different types of art, most notably ceramics and larger scale items that still baffle historians today.
One of the more famous African American potters during the Civil War times in the United States was David Drake (Burrison, 2012). Until he became emancipated he was known simply as Dave or Dave the Slave (Burrison, 2012). In 1801, Dave was born in the United States under his first owner Harvey Drake (Burrison, 2012). Harvey Drake is the most probable person to have taught young Dave how to read and write because of his belief that God gave him the responsibility to help his servants, or slaves how to read the word of God (Burrison, 2012). Many of his pieces are signed and dated, some have short facts about the piece, and others have short poems (Burrison, 2012). The words written on the pottery seems to have been inscribed while it was barely damp greenware (Burrison, 2012). Harvey Drake died in 1832 and in 1834, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a regulation that made it illegal for slaves to be taught how to read and write (Burrison, 2012). In 1840, after passing from one master to another Dave was finally given to Lewis Miles (Burrison, 2012). Dave was one of the few enslaved potters to be allowed to sign the ceramic pieces he produced during his enslavement under Lewis Miles (Burrison, 2012). On one piece Dave inscribed the words "LM says handle will crack" (Chaney). These words mean much more than what is written. It shows that Dave knew what he was doing and possibly even knew more than his master LM, Lewis Miles (Chaney). It seemed that Dave who was an enslaved man was the master, and his master was the fool because the handle, to date, has never cracked (Burrison, 2012). Dave Drake continued to sign his name and sometimes writing poetry on his pottery even though the law had been passed that made it illegal (Burri...
My friends, after traveling through the Asian continent and Japan, I continued on to the Americas. The art in the Americas has three regions, North America, Central America, and South America. Each region has a very distinct aspect to their forms of art. All cultures have some kind of art. Being curious about art, I have collected samples from five different areas. The following works of art are very different from European art, but there are still some similarities. The similarities of the human spirit are evident in the following images.
The Art Bulletin, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Jun., 1975), pp. 176-185. (College Art Association), accessed November 17, 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049368.
Many African cultures see life as a cycle we are born, we grow and mature, enter adulthood, and one day we will eventually die but the cycle continues long after death. In Africa art is used as a way to express many things in their society, in this paper I will focus on different ways traditional African art are used to describe the cycle of one’s life. Since Africa is such a large continent it is important to keep in mind that every country and tribe has different rituals and views when it comes to the cycle of life. It is estimated to be well over a thousand different ethnic groups and cultures in Africa today. Thousands of cultures in Africa see the stages of life bound together in a continuous cycle; a cycle of birth, growth, maturity,
They were mostly seen as having a purely anthropological value. However, the artefacts brought to England from Benin in 1897 were an anomaly. The craftsmanship and sophistication were such that some were reminiscent of the beautiful figures in the Hofkiche, Innsbruck 1502-1563 (plate 3.1.12. Visited in 2008).... ...
The first artist that I would like to discuss is named Nehemiah Partridge and his painting during the 17th century. Nehemiah Partridge is a painter from the 17th century and he painted colonial art. The painting that I chose is named “Portrait of Catherine Ten Broeck”, and was created in 1719 on oil canvas. The painting is of a young girl holding a rose in her right hand while holding a bird in her left hand. The girl in the painting is very young, and she seems to be very happy being painted. The painting illustrates every-day life in the 1700s. The artist chose very earthy tones for the color scheme, but the light is focused on the young girl. The elements were very calm and peaceful in this painting. In addition, the background of this painting focuses on a young girl named Catherine who was painted by Nehemiah Partridge. The painting has descended by Edward L. Ford from the family’s great-great-great-granddaughter in New York City. This style of painting reflects “reflects Partridge's style of quick, prominent brush strokes with a palette of black, brown, blue, and rust. The sket...
Sayre, H. M. (2010). A World of Art: Sixth Edition. In H. M. Sayre, A World of Art: Sixth Edition (pp. 511, 134, 29, 135, 152, 313-314, 132). Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.,.
Neal, Larry. “The Black Arts Movement.” The Black Aesthetic. Ed. Addison Gayle, Jr.New York: Doubleday &Company, Inc., 1971. 272 - 290.
This essay deals with the nature of a cross cultural encounter between the Benin people and Portuguese traders in the 15th and 16th centuries, which resulted in the depiction of Portuguese figures in Benin brass plaques. It will propose that this contact between people with different cultures was on the basis of 'mutual regard' (Woods, K. 2008, p. 16), and although the Portuguese had qualms about idolatry in Benin it will show that assumptions by Europeans up to the 20th century of the primitive nature of tribal African societies was inaccurate with regard to the Benin people, who had a society based on the succession of the King or 'Oba', a Royal Family and Nobility. The essay will finally suggest that Benin’s increase in wealth following the arrival of the Portuguese led to a resurgence in bronze sculptures and the introduction of a new form, the rectilinear plaque.
Kasfir, S. L. (2007) African Art and the Colonial Encounter: Inventing a Global Commodity, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
...des us with a glimpse into the ancient culture using beautiful and detailed designs. The art form has been sustained in fired clay for thousands of years indiscriminately telling its story to the world and to history.
“Art is a recurring form of human practice. Some have argued that all human societies have shown evidence of artistic activities.” (Carroll 5)
Most art has some sort of reason or purpose behind it. It might be religious, symbolic, literal, traditional, customary, or just a preference by the artist. Most African art has a symbolic reason. Masks, pottery, figures, portraits, jewelry, baskets and clothing reflect the religious belief of the different tribes. Africans believed that everything in nature is alive. For example: rocks, grass, plants, trees, rivers and mountains. African art was not popular and was looked down upon until recently. In Nigeria, people were tattooed as a test of courage. The figure- “Portrait Head of a King (Oni)” reflects this. The King has this tattooing on his entire face. The King has big slanted eyes, a prominent nose, and big full lips. All these things represented something to the Nigerian people; the King...