African Art and Cubism

The dramatic, bold lines of cave paintings depict human energy and the storytelling modality feels primal and important. Cave paintings are mysterious yet can be appealing to viewers of all ages. They illustrate the raw simplicity of expression and capture a universal human perspective in the natural world. African art is usually described as primitive, too dramatic in its abstraction, and stylized or simplistic but each of these characteristics is also used in descriptions of the Cubist movement. African art invented abstract and dramatic aesthetics with its vital sculptures and masks that influenced the famous Picasso and Braques. In fact, examples of these influences extend beyond Cubism to Fauvism seen in works by Matisse and the impressionists in works by Cézanne. 

Following colonial expeditions, some of the most sacred art and artifacts were brought to Europe and were widely smuggled and sold across Western societies. They were so popular that a flurry of African replicas emerged as well as a shift in Western art perspectives. Artists and scholars began to replace the status quo of Greco-Roman sculptures and antiquities that previously represented an achievable standard for beauty and intrigue.

The practices of modern Bantu-speaking Kota peoples of the 20th Century reflected their belief in supernatural powers and how the visible and immaterial worlds can be interwoven through physical objects through shape-shifting. These traditional beliefs have connotations in many different artifacts found from the 19th and 20th centuries such as the Bantu Reliquary Guardian Figures which were placed or tied to the reliquary to guard and protect the sacred relics. The arrival of European settlers brought a strategic imposition of proselytizing as Christian missionaries aimed to eradicate indigenous culture and destroy previous religious practices and many of these sculptures were destroyed. However, stylistically these wooden figures were composed of geometric shapes and were alluring to the modern artists of the early 20th century. 

African masks and similar figures mirrored forms used in Paul Cézanne's paintings with an emphasis on structural clarity and overlapping fragmented compositions. This fascinating representation in European art led to the emergence of Cubism as Picasso and Braque drew their inspiration for the Cubism style directly from similar bold geometric shapes.

                                              

Image Sources:

a. Kagle mask, 1775-1825, via Rietberg Museum, Zürich (left); with Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso, 1907, via MoMA, New York (center); and Dan mask, via Hamill Gallery of Tribal Art, Quincy (right)
b. “Ngulu” circa early 20th Century & Untitled, circa Late 19th /early 20th C National Museum of African Art Collection, Smithsonian

b. Kagle mask, 1775-1825, via Rietberg Museum, Zürich (left); with Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso, 1907, via MoMA, New York (center); and Dan mask, via Hamill Gallery of Tribal Art, Quincy (right)