Influence on Western Art (African Art post 3/10)

For a long time, people from Europe have misunderstood African art and have always connected it to poverty and under developed, yet during the 19^th century colonisations have helped African art to be transported to the West by the help of trading slaves (although it wasn’t a good thing to do) yet it helped Art to make another step.

All of the above reflected in the 20^th Century artists, like Matisse, Gaugin, Picasso and Van Gogh who got highly inspired from African art. These artists saw perfection in African art, well as sophistication. Their studies to African art have gave them the go ahead to open a new road to abstract forms and a new way to experiment new styles in Western art.

These artists didn’t know anything about the original meanings of African sculptures, but they surely recognised the compositions and yet adopted such qualities in their works. Yet, the new experiments resulted in flatness and vivid colours, where Cubed shapes helped to give a start to early modernism, and cubism was born. 

 

Vincent Van gogh                           Pablo Picasso 

   
Henri Matisse                               Paul Gaugin

African art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. African art - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_art#Influence_on_Western_art.