Africa paintings by artists. Traditional art of Africa

According to a contemporary German artist Sabine Barbe(Sabine Barber), the inspiration for her work can be anything: be it a person or nature. Thanks to her extraordinary talent and unbridled imagination, she creates truly beautiful paintings in which life is in full swing. A wonderful selection of works dedicated to South Africa, which depicts not only ethnic portraits, but also colorful landscapes of wild nature, will help you verify this.

Sabina has been drawing since an early age, but only after becoming a mother of two children did she become seriously interested in painting, giving her preference to oil and pastels. According to the author, it is pastel that gives her unique freedom and spontaneity, making her work truly soft and deep. And it is not at all surprising that these paintings make an indelible impression on the viewer, giving a feeling of calm, harmony and tranquility, because there is something special in them that attracts attention, causing a smile, not leaving anyone indifferent...

Everyone understands that the African continent is very amazing and unusual in its natural conditions, history and current realities. And although they are very ancient and colorful, the culture is only now in the active process of formation.

Previously, the development of their own art of African peoples was impossible, since they spent many years under the influence of foreign colonialists who suppressed any original traditions and beliefs. Therefore, all works of art of that time are considered “primitive”.

The aesthetic component in African paintings appeared only with the advent of avant-garde art in the twenties of the last century. And only after the massive declaration of independence of countries in Africa, its inhabitants began to revive their cultural characteristics, which had undergone all sorts of influences from European invaders.

After this, all painting can be divided into categories:

• creations of masters from the people;
• artistic activity with an industrial meaning;
• artists working professionally.

Most of all, African artists and other cultural figures could realize their potential in the northern part of Africa, where development proceeded much faster than in other lands. In the territories to the south, a transition is gradually taking place from a previously traditional tribal society to an industrial-urban one, which shapes the views of contemporaries on art.

Due to the peculiarities of local history, it is a symbiosis of all kinds of cultures and levels of consciousness, because mostly Africans still support traditional forms of art, while also being interested in its urban manifestations.

The modern result of the work of African artists is most often:

• a variety of options for decorating the walls of buildings outside and inside;
• advertising products (signs, billboards, banners);
• inscriptions and images on cars;
• pictorial drawings on glass;
• paintings with simple subjects, landscapes, portraits.

Paintings by African artists have some common features that distinguish them from world art:

• images are more abstract than realistic;
• special attention is paid to the human figure;
• proportions are often deliberately distorted;
• there is a lot of expression and dynamics in the works;
• Warm and bright colors predominate (red, yellow, brown shades);
• for contrast, colors are used - baked milk and olive;
• You can often find a combination of red and black.

Paintings by African artists

African art has always been exotic for Europeans and Americans, despite the fact that now you can easily get works by any masters of a suitable subject. Since these paintings fascinate with their boundless color and special metamorphoses, exhibitions with works by African artists are regularly held around the world.

Every picture is created by an artist not just with the help of a brush; in every work there is the soul of the creator and his entire family, because Africans are able to put a secret meaning into every stroke that is incomprehensible to a person from another continent. And all such little things convey the powerful energy of Africa, encrypted in small strokes.

Here are some famous African artists:

• Malangatana Valente Gwenya;
• Athi-Patra Ruga;
• Gatinya Yamokoski;
• Patricia Tokaw-Sedgh;
• Barry Abdul;
• Paulo Akiiki.

The Mozambican artist Malangatana Valente Gwenya definitely glorified his homeland, as he was even awarded the title of “Artist of the Year” (1997), which was awarded by UNESCO. He died 3 years ago in Portugal.

In his works, Malangatana combined the traditional techniques of dynamics and grotesquery for African paintings with European techniques.

His creations display features of folk art from his native Mozambique - bright colors, contrasting combinations. All this supports the main idea - neototemism, which emphasizes the equality of rights between all people and other creatures on the planet.

Famous paintings:

• “Birds are also caught”;
• "People and Animals".

Another African, Athi-Patra Ruga, continues to work in his homeland; he is not attracted by the comfortable conditions of modern Europe. His creations are always very bright and dynamic, largely due to the fact that he uses a wide variety of flowers in his paintings. In addition to canvases, he also creates all kinds of sculptures with the same colors.

Athi-Patra Ruga takes characters and plots from myths familiar from childhood; he wants to popularize them, since these stories are instructive and entertaining.

For his paintings, the master uses materials obtained from the surrounding area or made with his own hands (bamboo, skins, reed canvases). Flowers are also used to decorate finished canvases.

An artist from Africa, Gatinya Yamokoski, left her homeland, however, in America she is cultivating her native culture in every possible way. Gatinha is the owner of a virtual gallery through which artists from her home continent can sell their creations, brought by her personally.

In addition, Yamokoski herself paints paintings that convey the characteristics of the traditions and customs of Kenya, where she was born.

Figure of a guard on the ark "Kota", Gabon 19th century, carved wood covered with copper and brass flakes and plates, 55 cm, Museum of Man Paris.

In Africa you come across art everywhere, because literally everything around is amazingly decorated: household items, magnificent outfits, weapons, and the walls of homes are sometimes covered with real frescoes. African wood sculpture does not preserve well in hot and humid climates. That is why very few examples of ancient sculpture made before the end of the 19th century have reached us, especially since no one collected it until recently. Thus, the history of African art is almost unknown and the geography very imprecise. It is not always possible to understand what meaning Africans attach to their sculptures, especially since different countries have different meanings attached to them. Fang masks in Gabon (West Africa) are worn during ritual dances to greet strangers. Bateke masks in the Congo accompany major events in public life. Some figurines are associated with funeral rituals, such as the "kota" arks (in Gabon); others - with magic and predictions (mumuy figurines in Nigeria).
Sculpture made of wood, clay and metal

Sculpture made of wood and metal.

The techniques used by African art, as well as its functions, are extremely diverse. Some masks created for ritual dances are thrown away or broken after the ritual is completed, just as the dancer's paint is washed off. These things cannot always be called professional works. Others, on the contrary, require a high level of skill, and their production is trusted only to professional sculptors: a wooden sculpture does not give any room for error, because wooden shavings cannot be returned to their place after they are cut. Sometimes a sculptor uses several techniques, each of which is determined by the material: clay, wood, metal. For example, Bateke masks are carved from wood and covered with colored clay. And the guard figurines on the “cat” arks, also made of wood, are covered with brass plates and copper scales. A characteristic feature of the art of all the peoples of Africa is strict adherence to the canons: each sculptor belongs to his own tribe, and must reproduce exactly all the features and details of statues and masks developed by generations of ancestors, only minor changes are allowed. Thus, the African artist is first and foremost a craftsman.

Bronze of Benin In the 16th century, Portuguese sailors established contacts with the kingdom of Benin, located on the west coast of Africa: the Portuguese began to import metal and buy slaves. At that time, the royal palace in Benin was decorated with bronze reliefs depicting soldiers armed with European weapons. However, cultural contact remained limited: for example, nothing in this relief recalls the Renaissance art that was already developing in Europe.

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The artistic culture of Benin was one of the centers of professional court art in Tropical Africa. Bronze items were made by casting “lost wax” (using wax models). In the art of Benin, three periods are distinguished, characterized by differences in sculptures. From the first came portrait heads of the kings of Benin, associated with the cult of ancestors; they were placed on the altar. They are characterized by a certain convention and brevity. The second period is considered the heyday of Benin art and is characterized by softness and precision of execution. In addition to the well-known heads and reliefs (with figures of rulers, nobles, warriors, musicians), the sculpture is represented by stylized figures of fish, birds, predators and people (warriors, musicians, courtiers), made of bronze, ivory and iron. Benin works of art were the first works of African art to be encountered by Europeans; many of the so-called “Benin bronzes” are exhibited in major museums around the world. Text hidden

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BRIEF HISTORY OF BENIN

BENIN (Benin), a medieval state that existed in the 13th-19th centuries. in the southern part of modern Nigeria, west of the river. Niger. At its height (14th to 17th centuries), Benin was a large empire, stretching from the city of Onitsha to the interior of modern Benin in the west. The capital of Benin was Greater Benin, located on the site of the modern city of Benin City. Benin kings bore the title "Oba" ("Oba of Benin" or "Oba of Benin"). Along with both, major dignitaries played an important role in governing the state.

According to local legend, the Edo people living in Benin invited the ruler Oranmyan from Ife (one of the Yoruba states) to get rid of the rule of the Osigo tribe. Oranmian's son, Eweka I became the first Oba of Benin. In the 15th century, during the reign of Oba Ewuare the Great, all supreme power in the kingdom passed into the hands of Oba, Greater Benin turned into a fortified fortress, surrounded by walls and towers. The first Europeans to reach the shores of Benin were the Portuguese in 1485. Wide trade relations were soon established between Portugal and Benin; Portuguese merchants exported tropical products from Benin, and then mainly slaves; European goods and firearms were imported. In the beginning. 16th century By order of the oba, the Benin ambassador was sent to Lisbon, and the Portuguese king sent Christian missionaries to Benin. In con. 19th century some Benin residents still spoke the local dialect of Portuguese.

The first English expedition to Benin took place in 1553, trade with Great Britain was based on the export of ivory, palm oil and pepper. Those who visited Benin in the 16th and 17th centuries. The British brought to Europe legends about “Greater Benin,” a fabulous city with rich houses and a powerful king. Benin's wealth and power grew in the 16th and 17th centuries. through the slave trade with Europe. Slaves from hostile interior states were sold and transported to America on Dutch and Portuguese ships. Soon, part of the Benin coast received the name “Slave Coast”. After 1700, the state, and with it its capital, began to decline. However, in the 19th century. Benin is booming again, this time thanks to the palm oil trade. During the 1880s and 1890s, Benin repeatedly refused to sign a protectorate treaty with Great Britain. However, after eight British representatives were killed, a punitive expedition was organized in 1897, during which British troops under the leadership of Admiral Harry Rawson destroyed and burned Greater Benin, destroying most of the art created by Benin craftsmen. After this, Benin became part of the British colony of Nigeria. In 1975, the Republic of Dahomey (a former French colony), bordering historical Benin to the west, adopted the name Benin. Text hidden

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The art of the African state of Benin, which developed under the direct influence of the more ancient culture of Ife, reached its peak in the 15th-17th centuries. It was by this time (1400) that the kingdom of Benin, which had previously recognized the authority of the supreme kings of the Yoruba tribe, gained political independence and became the most powerful power on the entire coast of the Gulf of Guinea.

Its wealth was based on the trade in ivory, pepper, palm oil and the notorious slave trade. Since the end of the 15th century, Portuguese merchants flocked here, and Dutch and French travelers who visited Benin in the 17th century later spoke with surprise about the densely populated country and its capital, which was not inferior in size to European cities. They admired the splendor of the royal palace, its magnificent decoration and luxury, as well as the high skill of the Benin artisans.

The history of Benin, spanning almost a millennium, ended tragically at the end of the 19th century. Then a fight broke out between the major colonial powers of Europe for the division of Africa, and British troops provoked a bloody incident. In 1897, the British vice-consul announced his intention to pay an official visit to the "obbe" - the ruler of Benin.

In response, the “obba” said that he could not receive the vice-consul on the appointed day, as he would be participating in a very important local ceremony. However, the British authorities continued to insist on the visit. Many persons accompanying the vice-consul died along the way, and although the “obba” did not bear any responsibility for this, the British sent a punitive expedition to Benin. They subjected Benin to heavy bombardment and destroyed its capital. The ruler's palace was also destroyed in the flames of the fire; more than 2,000 works of art, which included bronze, ivory and wooden carved decorations, were barbarically destroyed. About 1,000 rectangular cast bronze plates (with reliefs), which depicted numerous visitors to the palace (including the Portuguese), disappeared, as well as large bronze snakes, cast in parts and then attached to the palace towers.

The bronze heads and some relief slabs that survived in the ruins of the palace became the prey of English soldiers, who brought them to England. There, these artistic products created a real sensation, some of them subsequently fell into the hands of antiquarians and enriched the collections of many European museums. With a few exceptions, the wonderful items made of bone, the pride of Benin craftsmen, have disappeared without a trace, and now we can only judge them based on accidentally surviving examples.

These include a head carved from a piece of elephant tusk (its height is 24.4 centimeters), which served as a pectoral (ore decoration) of a noble aristocrat. The Benin sculptor very skillfully carved an expressive face with wide open eyes from a hard but fragile material, emphasizing its typically Negro features. Two vertical scars on the forehead, where iron strips were inserted, are the hallmarks of a traditional tattoo. The iron-encrusted pupils give the gaze a special intensity; a necklace around the neck woven from precious corals, ornamental curls of hair and a diadem crowning the hairstyle with stylized images of bearded heads of Europeans (apparently, they captured the imagination of the master) make up the decorative frame of the mask.

Even in ancient times, the craftsmen of Benin borrowed techniques of artistic metal processing from the Yoruba people. Legend says that in 1280, the experienced foundry worker Igwe-Iga was sent by the king of Ife to Benin, where he taught his art to local craftsmen and where the original school of toreutics subsequently arose. Benin artisans mastered the complex technique of casting bronze products to such perfection that they could produce a casting whose wall thickness did not exceed 2-3 millimeters. European foundry workers did not know such masterly work even in the 15th century. It is not for nothing that in 1914 the director of the Berlin Museum spoke about the products of skilled Benin masters: “Neither Benvenuto Cellini nor anyone else could have cast these sculptures better.”

The production of bronze products in Benin was considered the privilege of the king, so the art of casting was kept in the strictest confidence, and the osama - bronze craftsmen - lived and worked in a special quarter next to the royal palace and under the vigilant supervision of one of the royal confidants. These workshops produced bronze heads of deceased kings, high-relief panels for facing palace galleries, various figurines of nobles, warriors, musicians...

Monuments of medieval sculpture in Benin are closely connected with the religious and magical worldview of the Benin people. They, like many peoples of Africa in general, had a widespread cult of ancestors. In the minds of the Benin people, the world around them was filled with many spirits of people who once lived. And although they have already died, they invisibly remain members of the clan community and have a huge influence on the lives of their descendants. In every Benin home there was an altar on which family members placed generous gifts to their ancestors and, above all, to the deceased father.

The Benin people enjoyed special reverence for their royal ancestors - the deified rulers of Benin. Their cult was of national importance, and the altar in the royal palace was considered the main place of worship of the ancestors of the entire country. In memory of them, solemn ceremonies were held annually, accompanied by hundreds of human sacrifices.

The sacred heads of the king's ancestors played an important role in such ceremonies. Unlike ordinary uhuv-elao, the sacred heads were cast in bronze and crowned with carved elephant tusks.

Along with the images of male heads, among the bronze products of Benin there are also heads of the queen mother, who occupied a privileged position at the royal court. In accordance with the accepted canon in Benin, she always appears in the guise of a young woman with pronounced black characteristics.

One of these heads (its height is 40 centimeters) is now kept in the British National Museum. Her tall, cone-shaped headdress with pendants imitates the queen's original outfit. It is woven from pink and blue corals, which in Benin were valued more than gold. They are also used to make a necklace of extraordinary size, which hugs the neck of the Benin queen like a standing collar and has magical powers.

The ancient sculptor who created this head skillfully polished the bronze, creating a spectacular play of light reflections. He used vertical lines to mark the lines of the tattoo on the forehead and stylized the design of the ears, turning them into ornamental curls. The bronze head of the Queen Mother belongs to the true masterpieces of Benin art. Text hidden

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THE CULTURE OF BENIN WAS CONSIDERED A BRANCH OF THE IFE CULTURE, which arose earlier in the 12th-14th centuries. in southwestern Sudan on the basis of the powerful state formation that has developed among the four million Yoruba people.

Back in the 19th century. European travelers were surprised to “discover” large flourishing cities in this area with a population of several tens of thousands of people (Ibadan, Ilorin, etc.) - The architecture of these cities - houses with courtyards and pools - resembled, according to some travelers, the houses of the Ancient Rima and their characteristic impluvium.

The Yoruba achieved great success in the smelting of metals, the development of crafts, and created a complex pantheon, characteristic of peoples who had entered the class stage of their development. The heyday of the artistic culture of the Yoruba state of Ife dates back to the 12th-14th centuries. A sufficient idea of ​​the level reached by art at this time was given, along with some earlier finds, by excavations begun in 1938 in the sacred Yoruba city of Ife. These finds, in particular, include a series of tarracotta heads that decorated altars for sacrifices and possibly depicted ancestral rulers. These heads amaze with their magnificent mastery of realistic sculpture, close in type to ancient realism (ill. 359 6). Excellent identification of plastic volumes, a generalized and at the same time rich realistic interpretation of form distinguish the skill of sculptors unknown to us. Some of these heads clearly embody the search for an image that is harmonious in its proportional relationships - a type of perfect and at the same time vitally concrete human beauty. The terracotta heads of Ife represent one of the most striking achievements of world art. No less significant are the bronze monumental heads of the gods and rulers of Ife, which are somewhat different in style from the terracotta heads.

The bronze head, apparently depicting the god of the sea Olokun, found before the First World War by the famous German ethnographer-researcher of African culture Frobenius, or the magnificent bronze head of King Oba-lufon are distinguished by the emphasized monumentality of the generalized sculptural volumes, a peculiar combination of precise and strong plastic modeling with rhythmic -ornamental graphic elaboration of the surface of the form in order to convey the hairstyle, stripes applied to the face, tattoos, etc. (ill. 360).

On some of the bronze heads, round holes were made around the mouth or forehead, intended for attaching mustaches, hair curls, and jewelry. In some Ife heads one can also see features of conveying a portrait resemblance, without, however, destroying the harmony of the created typical image of a person.

One of the most artistically significant monuments of this circle are bronze half-figures of one of the Oni - the deified king - the ancestor of the reigning dynasty. The frontal solemnity of the pose, free, however, from hieratic immobility, the wealth of ornamental decorations placed on the proportionally slender figure of the king, the restrained dynamics of the elastic-smooth contour of the entire composition create an image that is striking in its aesthetic perfection. Text hidden

Until the 19th century it was considered primitive, however, oddly enough, it had a great influence on European fine art. Unusual forms were adopted by various avant-garde movements. This became especially noticeable at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, African painting has come to be regarded as a serious art that requires special attention.

African style is distinguished by powerful expression and energy, which is embodied both in the forms themselves and in the symbols that accompany them. Another indispensable attribute is the presence in the works of African masters of a sacred connection with the world of spirits and Gods. Surprisingly, the colors that prevail in the paintings of African artists very accurately reflect the colors of the landscapes of this continent. Bright, green - like the jungle, yellow - like deserts and savannas, red - like the hot and scorching sun. In addition, the characteristic color for African painting is various shades of brown, ranging from fawn to almost red. Whether this combination of colors comes from rock paintings or is a later invention of local craftsmen is unknown. A lot of books and scientific articles have been written on this topic, but no one has ever figured out the secret of the unique painting of this continent.

Africa, especially South Africa, remained untouched and inaccessible to Europeans for a long time. Local tribes lived in their own world, without communicating with the rest, which is why their art is so different from what we are used to. It developed in the most unpredictable ways and, as a result, became so isolated and unique that the first viewers could not even understand that it was very beautifully and professionally done. Canonical forms, traditional motifs, life and everyday life, worries and worries, beliefs, fears and aspirations of the inhabitants of the continent, where there is no cold and snow, are reflected in their drawings and paintings and are incomprehensible to people who were brought up under the influence of completely different ideas and values . If our distant ancestors could fully understand and be imbued with such painting, then it has become increasingly difficult for modern people to do this.

What is it African painting!? If you try to talk about it in a few words, then this is: a single-color background, with several shades; the main motif of the work occupies almost the entire space; lack of perspective; the presence of ornaments and certain signs; the painting itself is made with wide and sweeping strokes or lines; grotesque forms; dynamics. Only from the outside does it seem primitive. Many avant-garde artists of the past and our time find a special genius in this. Such forms of modern painting as cubism, primitivism and some others were created only thanks to African art.

Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of ancient peoples Published 03/26/2016 17:40 Views: 2687

The art of Tropical Africa became known to Europeans only at the end of the 19th century. But the perfection of this art was amazing.

The original art of the peoples of Tropical Africa developed mainly in its western part: in western Sudan, on the Guinea coast and in the Congo.
Of course, African art is very diverse; different styles of African art can be distinguished with their own special features. But within the confines of one short article there is no opportunity to consider this topic in more detail, so we give only a generalized description of all the art of the peoples of Tropical Africa.
The art and culture of Africa have not yet been fully studied; there are still many mysteries and gaps in this issue. Although discoveries are made all the time. Archaeologists are confident that African art developed not only in Tropical Africa, but also in many areas of Southern and Northern Africa, including the Sahara mountains, which 7-8 thousand years ago was inhabited by peoples engaged in hunting, cattle breeding and agriculture. Thousands of rock paintings and paintings of various styles and periods have been found in the Sahara. The oldest of them date back to the 5th millennium BC, the later ones - to the first centuries AD

The existence of prehistoric paintings in the Sahara had been known for a long time, but only after the expedition of the French scientist A. Lot in 1957 did it become widely known: he brought to Paris more than 800 copies of rock paintings from the area of ​​the Tassilin mountain range. Nowadays, rock carvings have been found in almost all of Africa.

Landscape of Tassilien-Adjer
The huge desert plateau of Tassilien-Adjer (area 72 thousand km²) is located in the Central Sahara, in the southeast of Algeria. The surface of Tassil-Adjer is crossed by canyons and beds of dried ancient rivers. In the rocks of Tassili there are many grottoes and caves, as well as hot volcanic springs.

The ancient inhabitants of Tassil-Adjer left over 15 thousand rock paintings and reliefs dating from the 7th millennium BC. e. until the 7th century n. e. This is one of the largest monuments of rock art of the Sahara, a UNESCO site. The drawings refer to different time periods. The earliest are petroglyphs, they are made in a naturalistic style and date back to 6000-2000 BC. e.

Hunting scene
These are mainly scenes of hunting and images of animals of the “Ethiopian” fauna: elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, ostriches, antelopes, an extinct species of buffalo, etc.

Buffaloes
Animals are depicted very realistically. There are some drawings made later - their style is already different. The people depicted here belong to the so-called “Bushman type”. These are masked people with bows and arrows. Henri Lot, who studied the drawings in 1956-1957, called them “round-headed people.”
Later drawings from the end of 3000-1000 BC. e. made with paints and depict domestic animals: sheep, goats, cattle. There are also images of horses, dogs, mouflons, elephants and giraffes. The drawings are made more conventionally than the previous group. People are usually masked, with bows and arrows, darts, axes and crooked sticks. Men wear short, wide cloaks, women wear bell-shaped skirts.

Camels
Images of horses and carts with wheels dating back to the mid-2nd millennium BC were also found. e. - beginning of our era.
The appearance of the camel in drawings (200-700 AD) marks the "camel period".
Among the rocks, many arrowheads, scrapers, bones, grain graters, stone knives and other human tools were also found.
During the Neolithic era, this area was rich in water and various species of deciduous and coniferous trees, oleander, myrtle, oak, citrus and olive trees grew here. In those places where you can now see valleys filled with sand, deep rivers flowed. There were a lot of fish and large river animals: hippopotamuses, crocodiles - this is evidenced by preserved bones.

Petroglyphs of Fezzan

The petroglyphs of Fezzan are considered the pinnacle of primitive art. The area where these images are located is currently a lifeless desert. On the rocks you can clearly see images of elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, giraffes, bulls, antelopes, ostriches and other animals, as well as figures of archers, hunters with darts, etc. The sizes of the figures reach several meters.

In the IV millennium BC. e. From the rock paintings, giraffes, ostriches, and antelopes remain, but images of predators and the first figures of bulls appear. Bulls in different poses and angles, sometimes with long or short horns, with horns curved back or curved in the shape of a lyre, become the main object of the image.
Around the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. Cattle breeding tribes settled in Tassilin, so large rock paintings appeared depicting cattle drives, scenes of war, hunting, and gathering grains.
Ancient artists carved their works into rocks or painted them with mineral paints with a predominance of yellow, brown, blue and reddish tones. Egg white was used as a binding material. Paints were applied by hand, brushes and feathers.

Nok culture

Nok's area of ​​activity

The oldest known African culture was discovered in 1944 in the town of Nok (Nigeria), between the Niger and Benue rivers. Sculptural portraits and details of figures made almost life-size from baked clay were found in tin mines. This culture was called the Nok culture. Since then, many objects of this culture have been found. They were dated using the radioactive carbon method. The Nok civilization arose in Nigeria around 900 BC. e. and mysteriously disappeared in 200 AD. e. (end of the Neolithic (Stone Age) and beginning of the Iron Age). It is believed that the Nok civilization was the earliest in the sub-Saharan region to produce terracotta figurines.

Figurine of a Woman. Height 48 cm. Age: from 900 to 1500 years

Terracotta sculpture of Nok
The Nok civilization is also known for the spread of iron metallurgy to sub-Saharan Africa. Bronze sculptures also belong to their culture. They were made using the “lost wax method.” A rough clay block was coated with a thick layer of wax, from which the model was sculpted. Then it was covered with clay again and molten metal was poured into a specially left hole. When the wax flowed out, the model was dried, the outer layer of clay was broken and the resulting bronze figurine was carefully polished. This method was known back in Ancient Egypt, but there is no convincing evidence of a connection between ancient Egypt and Nok.
The perfection of sculpting and firing suggests that the Nok culture developed over a long period. Perhaps it was preceded by some other, even more ancient culture.

Sao people

Legends about the mysterious Sao people who lived in the Lake Chad region have survived to this day. This archaeological culture existed in the X-XIX centuries. n. e. in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the Shari and Logone rivers (the territory of the modern Republic of Chad). According to legend, the Sao people came to the Lake Chad region from the Bilma oasis in the Sahara. The population was engaged in hunting, fishing and agriculture, knew the metallurgy of iron, copper and bronze; Various crafts were developed. Excavations carried out in the mid-20s. XX century The remains of numerous settlements have been explored. The ruins of city walls and adobe houses, many items made of clay (sculpture, funeral urns, children's toys, jewelry, large vessels for storing grain), metals, bones, horn, and mother-of-pearl were discovered. The most interesting works of clay sculpture (mainly from the 10th century) are heads and statues, striking in their grotesque deformation of facial features.

Sao sculpture
There is a legend about the Sao people - they were giants who blocked rivers with one hand, made bows from palm trunks and easily carried elephants and hippos on their shoulders. Archaeological finds have confirmed that indeed in the X-XVI centuries. Here lived a people who created a unique culture.
The Sao built large cities surrounded by adobe walls 10 meters high, and created sculptures from clay and bronze, which usually combined human and animal features.
In addition to sculptural works, bronze reliefs with various subjects that decorated the pillars and walls of the palace galleries have also reached us. Benin craftsmen also created works of ivory and wood: pendant masks, wands, salt shakers, etc.

Rock art (Southern Rhodesia)
Monuments of ancient African art were also discovered in South Africa. In the 20s XIX century Rock paintings of mythological content were found in the Matopo Mountains. Among these images there are scenes of agricultural rituals, making rain, killing a king, mourning, and ascending to heaven.

Relief (Southern Rhodesia)

Wood sculpture

The most common form of art in Tropical Africa was folk sculpture made of wood. It was created by almost all peoples from the Sahara to South Africa, except for the eastern regions where Islam was widespread. Although the age of the oldest works that have come down to us does not exceed 150-200 years, it is believed that wooden sculpture has existed in Tropical Africa for a long time, but in a humid tropical climate, wood very quickly collapses.

Folk sculpture consists of two large groups: sculpture itself and masks. The sculpture was mostly cult (images of various spirits, ancestors), and masks were used during rites of initiation of young men and women into members of the community, as well as during various ceremonies, holidays, masquerades, etc.

Each African people had its own original style of sculpture, but it has many common features. It was usually carved from fresh, undried softwood, painted with three colors - white, black and red-brown, sometimes green and blue. African masters greatly exaggerated the size of the head, while the rest of the figure remained disproportionately small. Masks often combined human and animal features.

Rich original artistic traditions have been preserved in the territory that flourished in the 16th-18th centuries. in the depths of the equatorial forests of the Bushongo state (in the upper reaches of the Kassai River, a tributary of the Congo).
In many areas of Tropical Africa, the art of wooden sculpture still exists.

Art of Medieval Africa

Ife culture

Ife is a city in southwestern Nigeria. This is one of the most important centers of ancient civilization in West Africa. In the XII-XIX centuries. Ife was a city-state of the Yoruba people. In Ife, terracotta heads, monumental bronze heads of gods and rulers, and expressive bronze half-figures covered with ornamental decorations were found (most likely, these were the kings of Ife).
Bronze sculpture of Ife had a great influence on the development of the artistic culture of Benin, a state that existed until the end of the 19th century. on the territory of Nigeria. The Yorubas still consider Ife to be their ancestral home.
When, as a result of the expeditions of 1910 and 1938. Bronze and terracotta sculptures were found here, which were not inferior to the best examples of ancient art, then these finds amazed Europe. It is difficult to establish the time of execution of these figures, but approximately this is the 12th-14th centuries.

The portrait sculptures from Ife are almost life-size. They are distinguished by proportionality and harmony - the embodied ideal of human beauty of that time. Moreover, the bronze casting of these figures was as perfect as the forms.
According to legend, the art of bronze casting dates back to the 13th century. brought from Ife to the city-state of Benin. Here, as in Ife, it served kings—both. Foundry masters lived in a special quarter of the city, and special officials strictly monitored the preservation of the secret of bronze casting.
The city was destroyed during the English punitive expedition of 1897, and many works of art were lost in the fire.

Bronze reliefs of Ife
In addition to sculptural works, bronze reliefs with various subjects that decorated the pillars and walls of the palace galleries have also reached us. Benin craftsmen also created works of ivory and wood: pendant masks, wands, salt shakers, etc.
In some sculpted heads of the Ife culture, one can notice features of the transfer of similarities.

Bronze figure of the king
By the 15th century The state of Benin began to dominate the Yoruba people. The Portuguese conducted brisk trade with Benin (XVII-XVIII centuries), so there is a description of this state and its magnificent palaces. The French traveler Landolf even compared Benin with major French cities of that time. Bronze reliefs, heads and carved elephant tusks, now kept in museums in Europe and America, tell us about the former splendor of his palaces.

Benin bronze
The large bronze heads mainly depict the kings of Benin. To this day, in every house in Benin there is an altar where sacrifices are made to the ancestors, and above all to the deceased father. Carved wooden heads are usually placed on altars, conveying, as accurately as possible, a portrait likeness of the deceased.
According to legend, in the middle of the 13th century. (the reign of King Ogul), the foundry master Igwe-Iga was sent from the city of Ife to Benin, he taught other craftsmen who lived in a special quarter near the royal palace. The art of bronze casting was kept secret.

Bronze reliefs decorated the halls of palaces and galleries. They depicted various scenes from life, as well as kings, courtiers, etc.
The culture of Ife and Benin influenced the cultures of almost all the peoples of the Guinean coast.
For example, foundries in Ghana made miniature bronze castings of weights for weighing gold. Gold casting was very common among the Baule peoples. Their golden masks are distinguished by their grace. They were worn around the neck or at the waist. Perhaps they depicted the heads of killed enemies. Baule masks are varied, but they also have common features: an oval face, almond-shaped closed eyes, a long thin nose, hair in the form of twisted buns, etc.

Baule mask
The art of the ancient and medieval states of Tropical Africa suggests that the peoples of Africa reached a high level and created a unique, highly artistic culture.