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World of Art
African Art: An Introduction
The art of the Fang, the BaTeke, the BaKota and other African peoples is extremely vigorous and shows a brilliant sense of form. The substantial aesthetic impact their works had upon the development of 20th-century Western art - on Picasso, Derain, Braque and Modigliani, among others - continues to this day. This survey reveals the astonishing variety and expressive power of a continent that contains more distinct peoples and cultures than any other. The revised edition incorporates new research and modern place names, as well as extended and updated references.
288 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 28, 2021
Competent survey from 1971 (I read this edition, not the update)
POSITIVE POINTS ABOUT THIS BOOK
African art, from the huge continent, was long all labelled “primitive” and relegated to the back rooms of museums, or else treated as curios. But, in the early 20th century, Western artists finally realized that naturalistic art was not the only type in existence. African stylization or preference for abstract qualities, it was recognized, composed another whole artistic possibility. African art began to exert a major influence on Euro-American art. This book, a general survey of African art, takes ample notice of this.
The author notes that African art has never been static, but has changed over the centuries just like art elsewhere, thereby debunking a lot of previous theories.
The book covers rock art from pre-Christian era sites, painting, architecture, sculpture, and masks. Examples are drawn mainly from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Congo, but a few come from all over the continent.
Ancient Egyptian art is mentioned and its possible relationship to African art. Islamic and Western influences are briefly considered too.
There are 261 illustrations, both color and black and white, which are ably tied into the text.
Willett has a special chapter on the slow recognition of African arts by European art historians and experts, tracing the history of the European “gaze”. He points out that to say that Africans created only art for utilitarian purposes or religion is inaccurate. Some was created for “art’s sake”.
NEGATIVE POINTS ABOUT THIS BOOK
In such a brief text, a lot of societies and trends get short shrift. It’s inevitable, but unfortunate.
The research for the book must have been done in the 1960s. Use of DNA was unknown, and much research over the last half century could not be included. Therefore I’d have to say that the book is rather outdated, though the arguments about the general nature of African art still hold water.
Because the work was done in the 1960s, museums in African cities, and African art galleries and collectors run by Africans were still almost non-existent, the big changes in that sort of thing are not covered. It is still an outsider's view of the whole field of African art. But to be fair, there isn't another, so if you want to know the state of things back then, you probably have to read this one.
It isn’t enough to pooh-pooh so-called tourist art. There are all sorts of ins and outs to that genre, even if it doesn’t wind up in museums. I think there could have been more about that.
I found that the detailed descriptions of how certain Nigerian artists worked back in the Sixties were not very useful or readable. This is purely personal on my part.
CONCLUSION
Probably, if you are interested in African art, you need to read many other books, but this is an excellent, if outdated, introduction. The author’s statements are strong, he’s obviously knowledgeable, and he’s covered a lot of ground, if rather rapidly. The illustrations make this book worthwhile. I could have given 4 stars, but opted for 3 because there’s much more known nowadays.
POSITIVE POINTS ABOUT THIS BOOK
African art, from the huge continent, was long all labelled “primitive” and relegated to the back rooms of museums, or else treated as curios. But, in the early 20th century, Western artists finally realized that naturalistic art was not the only type in existence. African stylization or preference for abstract qualities, it was recognized, composed another whole artistic possibility. African art began to exert a major influence on Euro-American art. This book, a general survey of African art, takes ample notice of this.
The author notes that African art has never been static, but has changed over the centuries just like art elsewhere, thereby debunking a lot of previous theories.
The book covers rock art from pre-Christian era sites, painting, architecture, sculpture, and masks. Examples are drawn mainly from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Congo, but a few come from all over the continent.
Ancient Egyptian art is mentioned and its possible relationship to African art. Islamic and Western influences are briefly considered too.
There are 261 illustrations, both color and black and white, which are ably tied into the text.
Willett has a special chapter on the slow recognition of African arts by European art historians and experts, tracing the history of the European “gaze”. He points out that to say that Africans created only art for utilitarian purposes or religion is inaccurate. Some was created for “art’s sake”.
NEGATIVE POINTS ABOUT THIS BOOK
In such a brief text, a lot of societies and trends get short shrift. It’s inevitable, but unfortunate.
The research for the book must have been done in the 1960s. Use of DNA was unknown, and much research over the last half century could not be included. Therefore I’d have to say that the book is rather outdated, though the arguments about the general nature of African art still hold water.
Because the work was done in the 1960s, museums in African cities, and African art galleries and collectors run by Africans were still almost non-existent, the big changes in that sort of thing are not covered. It is still an outsider's view of the whole field of African art. But to be fair, there isn't another, so if you want to know the state of things back then, you probably have to read this one.
It isn’t enough to pooh-pooh so-called tourist art. There are all sorts of ins and outs to that genre, even if it doesn’t wind up in museums. I think there could have been more about that.
I found that the detailed descriptions of how certain Nigerian artists worked back in the Sixties were not very useful or readable. This is purely personal on my part.
CONCLUSION
Probably, if you are interested in African art, you need to read many other books, but this is an excellent, if outdated, introduction. The author’s statements are strong, he’s obviously knowledgeable, and he’s covered a lot of ground, if rather rapidly. The illustrations make this book worthwhile. I could have given 4 stars, but opted for 3 because there’s much more known nowadays.
April 6, 2024
Very clearly written just to convince Western artists and anthropologists that African art is in fact beautiful and legitimate and technical. In that sense, I was not even close to the intended audience and was thus bored by the development of that argument. I’ll have to give it to him, though, since it was the 1970s after all. I very much appreciated, however, the chance to learn so much context about the development of different ethnic groups’ art styles. Also, proud of myself for reading what was essentially a textbook cover to cover.
July 6, 2009
This is the text for my African art history class and i'm not sure i'm feeling it so far. First of all- way too small. With the sheer size of the continent, more than 250 pages in a small paperback format are required. Secondly- hardly any focus on modern and contemporary African artists. Third- after a conciliatory mention of politics, it never comes up again. We see no radical art, no mention of political context. There is no cross-reference to music, to African-American or Brazilian cultures that stem from Africa, no mention of slavery and colonialism's impact on the arts. No context in terms of describing how art is displayed in the cities- are there not any galleries or museums in all of Nairobi, Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Cairo? Come on. This book takes an ancient, stuffy old white dude stance that is very "objective" and anthropology-based.
I don't recommend this book if you are trying to learn about African Art- unless you want in-depth details of how many inches in circumference is a BaKuba drinking cup that was "discovered" by ______, an English colonial explorer funded by the queen. I hope to someday see an expansive overview of African Art that includes interviews with contemporary artists, and global historical context that goes beyond the usual mention of Picasso having been influenced by some African masks. Who will write this book? I don't know... but there is a void to be filled.
I don't recommend this book if you are trying to learn about African Art- unless you want in-depth details of how many inches in circumference is a BaKuba drinking cup that was "discovered" by ______, an English colonial explorer funded by the queen. I hope to someday see an expansive overview of African Art that includes interviews with contemporary artists, and global historical context that goes beyond the usual mention of Picasso having been influenced by some African masks. Who will write this book? I don't know... but there is a void to be filled.
February 1, 2016
As with the majority of books from this series, this gives a good background to add the history of the certain art genre or period. However, while this is such a broad topic, I feel the book doesn't adequately cover enough of the history of African art especially with current market and trading and information regarding African tribal arts. This is of course because the book was written in the 1970s but it doesn't seem to have been updated adequately. I was hoping for a book that would go more into detail as to why certain types of figures or masks or other African pieces are used and the text didn't do that. Nevertheless there's a good amount of information and it's an important book in understanding the origins of African tribal art and how it's been collected and discovered by the Western world.
January 27, 2023
I think this is a solid attempt. I do like the way it introduced issues in historiography about African art alongside the works of art, but overall is pretty out of date now and I will be looking elsewhere for more about African art. I found the organization of the book difficult to follow and would have preferred a more disciplined chronological approach divided by area. While this is not the intent of the book, I found discussing art thematically rather than dividing it up by region makes the art seem very homogenous. Pass
September 8, 2022
Really informative. The focus on West African art made sure the book wasn't too all over the place and Willett really tries to avoid making broad-strokes statements. He also emphasises the style of individual artists (rather than just 'tribes') which is a very welcome addition in this kind of volume. The writing's surprisingly very readable and kept me engaged throughout - great balance between the artworks and the prose. As a beginner to the subject, I feel like I learned a lot!
July 7, 2020
Plenty of interesting Art from Africa, the photos were interesting. It had a LOT of details... Especially about how some of the objects were used and how some of their art was influenced by Christians and other western artworks.
July 13, 2024
This book rules. Recommended by Chinua Achebe and a solid and logical approach to often bullied art-cultures. Totally solid for 1971.
March 11, 2016
Great resource, but clearly dated and a bit speculative.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews