Download Art Appreciation 2014

Art Appreciation 2014 - 2015
A Trip Around the World
November 2014
African Art
Art Appreciation - A Trip Around the World
2nd Stop: AFRICA
Charlotte, NC
#2: Africa
#1: Latin America
Africa covers of 1/5 of the land on earth. More than 1,000 different languages are spoken
here. Art produced here is typically utilitarian and meant to be used, not just observed
African Art
Masks
 African masks usually have spiritual and religious
meaning
 Used in ritual dances and social and religious events
 A special status is attributed to the artists that create
masks and to those that wear them in ceremonies
 Mask-making is an art often passed from father to
son, along with the knowledge of the symbolic
meanings conveyed by such masks
 The most commonly used material for masks is
wood, although a wide variety of other elements can
be used, including light stone or metals like bronze
& copper
Dogon Kananga Ceremonial Mask
Mali, Africa
Wood & Pigment
•
•
•
Mask used in Dama dance performed by the Dogon people of Mali, Africa
Belief that without the Dama dance the dead cannot cross to the supernatural world in peace
Made of a single piece of intricately carved wood
African Art
Fang Tribal Mask, late 19th–early 20th century
Gabon, Africa
Wood, Pigment.
Masks
• A Kponyungo is a funeral helmet mask that honors
deceased Poro elders
• Its symbolic and magical weaponry (much borrowed from
animals) is believed to protect the deceased in the afterlife
• Within the Fang tribe of Gabon, Africa, was a secret society
called Ngil (The Ngil ceased to exist in the 1930’s)
Poro Society Mask (Kponyungo), 1970
Carved by Zana Soro
Ivory Coast (Senufo)
Wood
• Ngil members wore masks such as this one when initiating new members
• Also used during rituals for disciplining tribe members for wrong-doing
African Art
A Powerful Influence
• Not until the early
1900’s did Western
artists begin to
appreciate and study
African art
• Pablo Picasso was
one of the first. He
found African masks
fascinating and
incorporated similar
images in many of
his Cubist paintings
Pende Mbangu Mask, “Sickness Mask”
Pende, Congo, Africa
Wood, pigments and fibers
Private Collection
• The “sickness mask”
from the Pende tribe
in Congo was a
strong inspiration for
Picasso’s influential
painting shown here
Les Demoiselles d’Avingnon, 1907
Pablo Picasso
Oil on canvas
Museum of Modern Art, New York
African Art
Metalwork

Evidence of metalworking in Africa dates back at least
4,700 years

The process of using fire to transform ore into metal, and
metal into an object, was widely seen in Africa as a
dangerous act of creation, much like giving birth to a child

Metalwork was often carried out at some distance from
villages to protect secret rituals and keep danger away

Because metalworkers knew how to make offerings and
sacrifices to the spirits and ancestors, and how to protect
their work from spirits and magic, they were often regarded
by the rest of the community with a mixture of fear and
awe
___________________________________________
•
This detailed bronze head likely depicts an Ooni, which is
a ruler of the West African kingdom of Ife that flourished
between 1100 and 1500 AD
•
The portrait-like realism of Ife heads is unique in African
art
•
Shows the remarkable skill of early African metalworkers
Ruler of Ife
12th to 15th century
Bronze
British Museum, London, England
African Art
Metalwork
• The Benin Bronzes are a group of more than
1,000 metal plaques that decorated the royal
palace of the Benin Empire in modern-day
Nigeria
• The Bronzes are the best known examples of
Benin art, created by the Edo people from
the 13th century
• In 1897, most of the plaques were removed
by the British and placed in museums
throughout Europe. Although controversial,
this led to a greater appreciation of African
art, which had rarely been seen outside of
Africa before
Benin Bronze plaque, 13th century
Copper alloy
British Museum, London, England
African Art
Wood Carving

Wood Carving is one of the most common forms of artistic expression in Africa

Villages typically have one or more carvers who pass skills down from generation
to generation

Most African sculptures are carved from a single piece of wood which is roughly
carved using a small axe. Once polished, details are added using a knife or chisel
• Headrests such as this one
were often used to support a
sleeping person’s neck and to
protect elaborate hairstyles
• The Tsonga peoples of
southern Africa typically
carved headrests representing
animals such as this elephant
Headrest, c. 1890
Tsonga peoples
Wood
Mozambique and South Africa
African Art
Wood Carving
• Olowe of Ise became known as the “Carver to the
Kings” after creating this amazing bowl and other
treasures for the King of the Yoruba people in Nigeria
• He became a master artist at the King’s palace, and as
his fame grew, other Yoruba kings and wealthy
families commissioned him to carve architectural
sculptures, masks, drums and other objects for their
palaces
• Among the Yoruba, such elaborately carved and
decorated bowls were prestigious objects used to offer
kola nuts to guests or to gods during religious
worship.
• Except for the lid, the entire sculpture, including the
bearded head shown resting on the base, was carved
from a single piece of wood.
Bowl with figures, 1925
Olowe of Ise
Wood
Yoruba Tribe, Nigeria
African Art
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian art was produced by the civilization occupying the Nile River Valley
from about 3000 BC to 100 AD

Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and thus there is an
emphasis on life after death

It is almost entirely symbolic and had very precise meaning
______________________________________________
•
This funeral mask was placed over the head
and shoulders of Tutankhamun’s (“King
Tut’s”) mummy
•
Made of gold inlaid with colored glass and
semiprecious stone; weighs 24 pounds
•
Emblems on the forehead (vulture and
cobra) and on the shoulders (falcon heads)
were symbols of the Two Lands of Upper
and Lower Egypt and of divine authority
•
King Tut was 9 years old when he was
made Pharaoh and reigned for about
10 years; little is known about his death
Death Mask of Tutankhamun
Gold, glass & stone
Egyptian National Museum,
Cairo, Egypt
African Art
Ancient Egypt
Weighing of the Heart
Against the Feather
c. 1275 BC
Painted papyrus
British Museum,
London
•
Painting depicts a typical ancient Egyptian funeral scene – the weighing of the heart
against the feather of truth
•
Ancient Egyptians believed the actual heart of the deceased should be lighter than a
feather; if not the heart was heavy with wrong-doing and the deceased would not be
allowed to enter into the afterlife
•
This process was overseen by the god Anubis pictured under the right side of the scale
African Art
Ancient Egypt
• Pyramids were
constructed as
elaborate tombs for
pharaohs; the Sphinx
was built to guard the
tombs
• The Great Pyramid
took 20 years to build
using over 2 million
blocks of solid rock
weighing between 2 to
30 tons each
• The massive sphinx is
241 feet long and 66
feet high. Its eyes are
over 6 feet tall
The Sphinx & Great Pyramid
c. 2500 BC
Giza, Egypt
• Exactly how the
pyramids and sphinx
were constructed
remains a mystery
Art Appreciation - A Trip Around the World
Next Stop: MEDITERRANEAN
Charlotte, NC
#3: Mediterranean
#2: Africa
#1: Latin America