Africa
AP Art History Africa Resources
Overview
- Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield. Contemporary African Art. New York: Thanes & Hudson, 1999.
- McClusky, Pamela, and Robert Farris Thompson. Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
- Phillips, Tom, ed. Africa: The Art of a Continent: 100 Works of Power and Beauty. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1996.
- Visonà, Monica Blackmun, Robin Poynor, Herbert M. Cole and Michael D. Harris. A History of Art in Africa (2nd edition). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2007.
- *African Arts magazine (MIT Press) offers peer-reviewed scholarly articles on the arts of Africa and the African Diaspora, both classical and contemporary. Online access to their searchable database and articles in PDF format is available through JSTOR, EBSCOHOST, and numerous other online reference systems.
Intro and background
Dr. David Riep
General Characteristics of African Art & Describing African Art
Dr. David Riep
Overview
[Southeastern Zimbabwe. Shona peoples. c. 1000–1400 C.E. Coursed granite blocks.]
Recommended reading(s)
Garlake, Peter. Great Zimbabwe. London: Stein & Day, 1973.
Garlake, Peter. The Hunter's Vision. The Prehistoric Art of Zimbabwe. Seattle: University of Washington, 1995.
Hall, Martin. Farmers, Kings, and Traders: The peoples of Southern Africa 200-1860. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Huffman, Thomas N. Handbook to the Iron Age: The archaeology of pre-colonial farming societies in southern Africa. Scottsville: University of Kwa Zulu Natal Press, 2007.
[Mali. Founded c. 1200 C.E.; rebuilt 1906–1907. Adobe.]
Recommended reading(s)
Maas, P. and G. Mommersteeg. L'architecture dite soudainaise: 'le modele de Djenne" in Vallees du Niger.
Prussin, Labelle. Hatumere: Islamic Design in West Africa. Berkeley: University Press, 1986.
[Edo peoples, Benin (Nigeria). 16th century C.E. Cast brass.]
Recommended reading(s)
Ben-Amos, Pauls. The Art of Benin. Washington D.C., Smithsonian, 1995.
Blier, Suzanne Preston. Royal arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. New York: Abrams, 1998.
Ezra, Kate. The Royal Arts of Benin: The Perls Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992.
[Kuba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. 1760–1780 C.E. Wood.]
Recommended reading(s)
Blier, Suzanne Preston. Royal arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. New York: Abrams, 1998.
Coronet, Joseph A. Art Royal Kuba. Edizioni Sipiel Milano, 1982.
Binkley, David and Patricia Darish. Kuba: Visions of Africa Series. Milan: 5Continents, 2010.
[Kongo peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. late 19th century C.E. Wood and metal. ]
Recommended reading(s)
MacGaffey, Wyatt and Michael D. Harris. Astonishment and Power: The Eyes of Understanding: Kingo Minkisi/The Art of Renee Stout. Washington DC: Smithsonian, 1993.
Thompson, Robert Farris. The Four Moments of the Sun: Kongo Art in Two Worlds. Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 1981.
LaGamma, Alisa. Kongo: Power and Majesty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.
[Chokwe peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Late 19th to early 20th century C.E. Wood, fiber, pigment, and metal.]
Recommended reading(s)
Jordan, Manuel, and Gary van Wyk. Chokwe! Art and Initiation among Chokwe and Related Peoples. New York: Prestel, 1998.
Wastiau, Boris. Chokwe: Visions of Africa Series. Milan: 5Continents, 2008.
Gernot, Mayr, Manuel Areia, Reynold Kerr, and Marlene Linville. Chokwe and their Bantu Neighbors. Zurich: Galerie Walu, 2003.
[Baule peoples (Côte d’Ivoire). Early 20th century C.E. Wood and pigment.]
Recommended reading(s)
Vogel, Susan. Baule: African art Western eyes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
Boyer, Alain-Michel. Baule: Visions of Africa Series. Milan: 5Continents, 2007.
[Sande Society, Mende peoples (West African forests of Sierra Leone and Liberia). 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood, cloth, and fiber.]
Recommended reading(s)
Phillips, Ruth B. Representing women: Sande Masquerades of the Mende of Sierra Leone. Los Angeles: UCLA Press, 1995.
Hommel, William L. Art of the Mende. College park: University of Maryland Art Gallery, 1974.
Boone, Sylvia. Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art. New haven: Yale University Press, 1990.
[Igbo peoples (Nigeria). c. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood. ]
Recommended reading(s)
Cole, Herbert M. Igbo arts: community and cosmos. Los Angeles: UCLA Press, 1984.
Cole, Herbert M. Igbo: Visions of Africa Series. Milan: 5Continents, 2013.
[Mbudye Society, Luba peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo). c. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood, beads, and metal.]
Recommended reading(s)
Roberts, Mary Nooter, and Allen F. Roberts. Memory: Luba art and the making of history. New York: Center for African Art, 1996.
Roberts, Mary Nooter, and Allen F. Roberts. Luba: Visions of Africa Series. Milan: 5Continents, 2007.
[Bamileke (Cameroon, western grassfields region). c. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood, woven raffia, cloth, and beads.]
Recommended reading(s)
Blier, Suzanne Preston. Royal arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. New York: Abrams, 1998.
Gebauer, Paul. Art of Cameroon. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979.
Himberger, Lorenz, Christaud Geary, Hans-Joachim Koloss. Cameroon: Art and Kings. Zurich: Rietberg Museum, 2008.
[Fang peoples (southern Cameroon). c. 19th to 20th century C.E. Wood. ]
Recommended reading(s)
Perrois, Louis. Ancestral art of Gabon: from the collections of the Barbier-Muller Museum. Geneva: Barbier-Muller Museum, 1985.
Perrois, Louis. Fang: Visions of Africa Series. Milan: 5Continents, 2008.
Perrois, Louis. Art of Equatorial Guinea: The Fang Tribes. New York: Rizzoli, 1991.
[Ashanti peoples (south central Ghana). c. 1700 C.E. Gold over wood and cast-gold attachments.]
Recommended reading(s)
Cole, Herbert M. and D.H. Ross. The Arts of Ghana. Los Angeles: UCLA Press, 1977.
Ross, D.H. and T.F. Garrard. Akan Transformations. Los Angeles: UCLA Press, 1983.
Blier, Suzanne Preston. Royal arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. New York: Abrams, 1998.
[Olowe of Ise (Yoruba peoples). c. 1910–1914 C.E. Wood and pigment. ]
Recommended reading(s)
Abiodun, Rowland, Henry Drewal, and John Pemberton. The Yoruba Artist. Washington: Smithsonian, 1994.
Blier, Suzanne Preston. Royal arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. New York: Abrams, 1998.
Drewal, Henry, John Pemberton III, Rowland Abiodun. Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. New York: Abrams, 1990.
