Use of DNA was unknown, and much research over the last half century could not be included. The research for the book must have been done in the 1960s. In such a brief text, a lot of societies and trends get short shrift. He points out that to say that Africans created only art for utilitarian purposes or religion is inaccurate. 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”.

There are 261 illustrations, both color and black and white, which are ably tied into the text. Islamic and Western influences are briefly considered too. Examples are drawn mainly from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Congo, but a few come from all over the continent.Īncient Egyptian art is mentioned and its possible relationship to African art. The book covers rock art from pre-Christian era sites, painting, architecture, sculpture, and masks. 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. This book, a general survey of African art, takes ample notice of this. African art began to exert a major influence on Euro-American art.

African stylization or preference for abstract qualities, it was recognized, composed another whole artistic possibility. But, in the early 20th century, Western artists finally realized that naturalistic art was not the only type in existence. Competent survey from 1971 (I read this edition, not the update)Īfrican art, from the huge continent, was long all labelled “primitive” and relegated to the back rooms of museums, or else treated as curios.

African Art by Frank Willett