Art, Art History and the Study of Africa (African Studies)

Introduction
African cultures have created sumptuous and subtle art in numerous materials for many millennia. Change has been constant, as we know from the ancient arts of Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Mali. Recognition of the continent’s artistic complexity and sophistication came slowly in the West, and the study of African art is little more than a century old. This bibliography introduces the sub-Saharan art literature, providing a historiographic overview, and presents recent resources. The field is vast, so other bibliographies will cover modern and contemporary African art and the arts of regions, nations, and ethnic groups, as well as African ceramics, textiles, basketry, jewelry, and other metal creations, architecture, and body arts and embellishments. North Africa and the Sahara are also left to a future bibliography; they have many touch points with sub-Saharan Africa but are simultaneously quite distinct. The small number of entries pertaining to eastern and southern Africa reflects the much smaller art literature for those areas. Sections in this bibliography include early (pre-1970) works, methodology and state of the discipline, overviews and surveys, reference works and visual resources, bibliographies and databases, journals, archaeology, and several important topics: aesthetics; style and ethnicity; artists and authorship; leadership; spirituality; materials and techniques; performance; exhibiting African art; and buying, selling, and repatriation. We thank Jessica Hurd for suggestions.
Classic Publications Before 1970
The first seven decades of the 20th century laid important foundations for future research, including its cross-disciplinary nature. In the century’s earlier decades, information came from colonial officers, travelers, missionaries, expatriate teachers, art school founders, museum curators, and anthropologists (see Adams 1989, cited under Methodology and the State of the Discipline). Only after midcentury did art historians begin making serious contributions to the budding field. Roy Sieber received his PhD in art history in 1957, followed by Douglas Fraser in 1959 and Robert Farris Thompson in 1965; these three scholars established African art history in the United States. By the 1970s, a critical mass of scholarly expertise and experience, data, and interpretive perspectives inspired a new degree of analytical detail and intensity. These more recent publications all owe a debt to the pre-1970 “classic” publications annotated here and in the subsections Regional and Ethnic Surveys Before 1970 and Special Topics Publications before 1970. The general texts included in this section helped fuel the large numbers of publications that began appearing in the 1970s and suggest many of the topics that were to become prominent. They emphasize sculpture, especially figures and masks, establish canons of forms, and highlight a wide aesthetic spectrum (Elisofon and Fagg 1978, Sweeney 1969). The relationship between ethnicity and style (Fagg 1965, Sydow 1954), the notion of style areas (Kjersmeier 1967, Sieber and Rubin 1968), the categorization of artworks according to function (Trowell 1970), the interrelated importance of form and context (Leiris and Fry 1968), and the value of field data (Himmelheber 1960) are some of the topics explored by these early authors that were to become important areas of debate and discussion for later scholars. Many of these publications, such as Fagg 1965, Trowell 1970, and Leiris and Fry 1968, organize their discussions of ethnic groups geographically, from west to east and north to south, a system still frequently used today.
Elisofon, Eliot, and William Buller Fagg. The Sculpture of Africa. New York: Hacker Art Books, 1978.
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First published in 1958, this book features photographs by photojournalist Elisofon whose extensive photo archive is now at the National Museum of African Art. The text by William Fagg is dated, but Ralph Linton’s preface includes an early critique of the term “primitive.”
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Fagg, William Buller. Tribes and Forms in African Art. New York: Tudor, 1965.
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This is the best-known example of Fagg’s theory that African people are naturally organized into distinctive units (“tribes”) with an internal coherence that produces a unique array of formal components which become, particularly in sculpture, their “tribal style.” Based on the 1964 Berlin Festival exhibition “Africa: 100 Stämme, 100 Meisterwerke.”
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Himmelheber, Hans. Negerkunst und Negerkünstler. Braunschweig, West Germany: Klinckhardt & Biermann, 1960.
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German Africanist Himmelheber pursued ethnographic data on several African research trips and pioneered interest in individual artists. Includes an excellent bibliography for its time, with a heavy emphasis on European sources.
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Kjersmeier, Carl. Centres de style de la sculpture nègre africaine. 4 vols. in 1. New York: Hacker Art Books, 1967.
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Originally published 1935–1938. Kjersmeier was the first expert to organize African sculpture around the styles’ geographic distribution. The ethnographic information is dated. Vol. 1, Afrique Occidentale Française; Vol. 2, Guinée Portugaise, Sierra-Leone, Libéria, Côte d’Or, Togo, Dahomey, Nigéria; Vol. 3, Congo Belge; Vol. 4, Cameroun, Afrique Équatoriale Française, Angola, Tanganyika, Rhodésie.
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Leiris, Michel, and Jacqueline Fry. African Art. Translated by Michael Ross. New York: Golden Press, 1968.
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This hefty tome balances discussions of contexts and uses with formal qualities. Includes a thoughtful section on the relationships of function and form and a helpful glossary-index. Much of the data here has been superseded by newer research, but the bibliography includes many useful European sources.
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Sieber, Roy, and Arnold Rubin. Sculpture of Black Africa: The Paul Tishman Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968.
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This exhibition catalogue of a private collection (now part of National Museum of African Art) initiated the breakdown of the “tribal style” concept and suggested alternate models for organizing African art surveys by arranging ethnic groups into larger units based on language and culture relationships or aspects of geography.
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Sweeney, James Johnson. African Negro Art. New York: Arno Press, 1969.
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This is a reprint of the well-illustrated 1935 catalogue of large landmark exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Sweeney completely downplayed ethnographic context and foregrounded aesthetics and formal qualities that contributed to Europe’s modernist aesthetic. Greatly influenced Africanist pioneers such as Robert Goldwater (see Goldwater 1960, cited under Regional and Ethnic Surveys Before 1970).
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Sydow, Eckart von. Afrikanische Plastik: Aus dem Nachlass herausgegeben von Gerdt Kutscher. New York: G. Wittenborn, Vorwort, 1954.
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Intended as part of a series first published 1930, but posthumously expanded and edited by colleague Gerdt Kutscher, this is an early attempt to classify African art using stylistic analysis (see also Olbrechts 1959, cited under Regional and Ethnic Surveys Before 1970); includes illustrations from outstanding European collections.
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Trowell, Margaret. Classical African Sculpture. 3d ed. New York: Praeger, 1970.
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Originally published in 1954. The author, the founder of a Uganda art school, advocated understanding African sculpture from joined artistic and ethnographic perspectives. Her generalizations on meanings and functions are now antiquated, but she developed still useful concepts of art aimed at spiritual forces to harness power and art aimed at people to garner status or produce enjoyment.
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Regional and Ethnic Surveys Before 1970
Olbrechts 1959 is an early exercise in style morphology based on already collected artworks. Goldwater 1960 (Bamana/Bambara) and Goldwater 1964 (Senufo) are groundbreaking exhibition catalogues for single ethnic groups, presenting generous amounts of cultural context and serving as models for future catalogues. Rattray 1927 provides an extremely detailed context for a single ethnic group (Asante). Willett 1967 offers rich archaeological detail on ancient Ife and Nigerian art studies. Fagg 1963 presents splendid photographs of superb Nigerian artworks, with contextual information and conjecture by the ranking Nigerian art scholar. Holý 1967 is the first substantive treatment of eastern and southern African art. These works were mainstays for graduate students in the late 1960s and 1970s as the discipline began to gain momentum.
Fagg, William Buller. Nigerian Images: The Splendor of African Sculpture. New York: Praeger, 1963.
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Nigerian Images, an exhibition and accompanying catalogue, helped popularize African art, and presented contextual information and conjecture on historical development. Stunning photography (by Herbert List), a useful glossary, a lengthy essay, and hefty captions are all relevant to scholars today even though much of the material is dated.
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Goldwater, Robert John. Bambara Sculpture from the Western Sudan. New York: University Publishers, 1960.
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This catalogue of an exhibition by the first director of the Museum of Primitive Art and an innovative scholar of African and modern art remains important for all students of the Western Sudan. The catalogue is rich in sculptural variety and range, with thoughtful presentations of both contextual and formal information and an excellent use of largely French sources.
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Goldwater, Robert John. Senufo Sculpture from West Africa. New York: Museum of Primitive Art, 1964.
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This is an exemplary exhibition and catalogue on a single ethnic group, which set a high bar for single-author catalogues and remains a good starting place for research on Senufo art.
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Holý, Ladislav. The Art of Africa: Masks and Figures from Eastern and Southern Africa. Edited by Margret Carey from the translation by Till Gottheiner. London: Hamlyn, 1967.
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Holý has organized this survey essay geographically; many photos with notes on them by Carey are included.
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Olbrechts, Frans M. Les arts plastiques du Congo belge. Translated by Dom Alexandre Gillès de Pélichy. Brussels: Éditions Erasme, 1959.
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Originally published in 1946 as Plastiek van Kongo; the English translation Congolese Sculpture (New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files, 1982) is not widely available. Olbrechts uses stylistic analyses of details to classify sculpture by region and ethnicity, and this is one of the earliest publications to use stylistic analysis to identify an individual African artist, dubbed Buli Master.
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Rattray, R. S. Religion and Art in Ashanti. Oxford: Clarendon, 1927.
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Rattray was one of finest early-20th-century colonial ethnographers, and this is the starting point for all students of Akan culture. A veritable encyclopedia on Asante art and religion, with material on most aspects of expressive culture, the book is also available in several reprint editions.
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Willett, Frank. Ife in the History of West African Sculpture. New Aspects of Antiquity. New York: McGraw Hill, 1967.
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Half a century after its publication, with West African archaeology having made numerous spectacular discoveries from Senegal to Cameroon, this text remains important for anyone interested in ancient Nigerian art. Clear, cogent, and beautifully produced.
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Special Topics Publications before 1970
Several publications point the way toward special topics that remain important today. Aesthetic studies were slow to emerge (see Aesthetics), but one very early and insightful pioneer was d’Azevedo 1958. Studies of individual artists in their social contexts were also slow to develop, and remain too infrequent (see Artists and Authorship). But Bohannon 1961 explores Tiv practices of critiquing individual artists and Himmelheber 1963 discusses three specific Dan and Kran artists in the broader context of their profession as sculptors. Lectures published in Biebuyck 1973 offer additional illumination on artists. Griaule 1938 initiated the practice of in-depth documentation for a single art form and attracted a large following of French anthropologists, but also triggered a contentious and continuing debate about acquisition and interpretations of ethnographic data. Harley’s Liberian masks monograph (Harley 1950) demonstrates how research conditions can corrupt information. Gerbrands 1957 offers an early assessment of African art studies, which were followed in later years by several more (see Methodology and the State of the Discipline).
Biebuyck, Daniel P., ed. Tradition and Creativity in Tribal Art. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
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Compiled from 1965–1969 lectures and symposium at UCLA and first published in 1969, this collection includes essays by William Fagg, William Bascom, and Robert Farris Thompson that helped move the discipline toward an interest in individual artists. Thompson’s essay on the Yoruba master potter Àbátàn is a classic.
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Bohannan, Paul. “Artist and Critic in an African Society.” In The Artist in Tribal Society. Edited by Marian W. Smith, 85–94. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961.
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Explores the interaction between individual artists and the larger Tiv (Nigeria) ethnic group. Reprinted in The Many Faces of Primitive Art: A Critical Anthology, edited by Douglas Fraser (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966).
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d’Azevedo, Warren L. “A Structural Approach to Esthetics: Toward a Definition of Art in Anthropology.” American Anthropologist 60.4 (August 1958): 702–714.
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By evaluating people’s aesthetic responses to objects and cultural activities, d’Azevedo creates thoughtful examination of what constitutes art. He frequently invokes ideas about cognition that are now major subjects of art history and cognitive science.
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Gerbrands, A. A. Art as an Element of Culture, Especially in Negro-Africa. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1957.
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Gerbrands summarizes and critiques the state of African art studies to the mid-20th century. The text addresses terminology, surveys numerous early publications (including those in French, German, and Dutch), and identifies issues the discipline must address. Very useful in conjunction with Adams 1989, Biebuyck 1983, and Ben-Amos 1989 (all cited under Methodology and the State of the Discipline).
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Griaule, Marcel. Masques Dogons. Paris: Institut d’ethnologie, 1938.
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This in-depth examination of masks and their meanings has been described by some as the first great African art study and by others as a misunderstanding and misuse of the Dogon creation myth and esoteric beliefs. It stimulated a large, ongoing literature of critique and reinterpretation.
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Harley, George Way. Masks as Agents of Social Control in Northeast Liberia. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University 32.2. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, 1950.
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This is an early monograph on masks collected for Harvard’s Peabody Museum by a medical missionary who spent decades in Liberia but collected information and masks under circumstances not conducive to accuracy, as detailed in Monni Adams, “Both Sides of the Collecting Encounter: The George W. Harley Collection at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Harvard University” in Museum Anthropology 32.1 (2009): 17–32. Introduced the old social science idea of “social control” to art studies, where it thrived for decades. Available online.
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Himmelheber, Hans. “Personality and Technique of African Sculptors.” In Technique and Personality. Edited by Junius B. Bird, Margaret Mead, and Hans Himmelheber, 79–110. New York: Museum of Primitive Art, 1963.
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Based on many years of research around the continent by Himmelheber and his son, Eberhard Fischer, this highly informative article examines artists’ apprenticeships, tasks, gender roles, fame, and inspiration as well as the issue of likeness in portraiture. Three Kran and Dan sculptors also discussed.
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General Overviews and Surveys
These works offer detailed information and interpretive analyses of artworks across the continent. From the 1970s on, the sophistication of publications has grown exponentially, as have the number of scholars doing research. As in other fields of art history, museum exhibition catalogues have become an important way to disseminate new research, review and reinterpret existing scholarship, and bring together images of related objects.
Textbooks
For many years Willett 2003 was the best widely available introduction to African art, though it is not a comprehensive survey. That void has been filled by Visonà, et al. 2008, a huge accumulation of well-synthesized information. Perani and Smith 1998 is shorter and less well illustrated, but still a useful survey. Vansina 1984 emphasizes the need to cover history. Rubin and Pearlstone 1989 is the most penetrating presentation of why people should care about arts around the world. Garlake 2002 (see Art and Archaeology) is an excellent introduction to early arts.
Perani, Judith, and Fred T. Smith. The Visual Arts of Africa: Gender, Power, and Life Cycle Rituals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
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This is a good undergraduate introduction, covering figure sculpture, masquerades, textiles, ceramics, and many other visual traditions. Black-and-white photos, some poorly reproduced. Coverage not as thorough as Visonà, et al. 2008.
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Rubin, Arnold, and Zena Pearlstone. Art as Technology: The Arts of Africa, Oceania, Native America, and Southern California. Beverly Hills, CA: Hillcrest, 1989.
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Coverage beyond Africa, but an insightful and innovative survey. Created from material Rubin used in an introductory course at UCLA. Engages readers with the importance of understanding every society’s expressive culture. Presents much thought-provoking material, and clearly defines key terms and concepts.
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Vansina, Jan. Art History in Africa: An Introduction to Method. London and New York: Longman, 1984.
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This introduction to this preeminent historian’s views on studying African art emphasizes history but does not ignore social, cultural, or formal contexts. Packed with critique of art history’s perspectives and methods, some supplanted by more recent research.
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Visonà, Monica Blackmun, Robin Poynor, and Herbert M. Cole. A History of Art in Africa. 2d ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008.
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Comprehensive survey (including North Africa) that brings together information from most current sources. The emphasis is on traditional arts, but the book also includes sections on contemporary arts and the diaspora. Large format, well illustrated. Glossary; bibliographic essays for each chapter.
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Willett, Frank. African Art: An Introduction. 3d ed. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2003.
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First published in 1971, this book is designed like a guidebook for new students, with chapters on historiography, ancient art, architecture, looking at and understanding sculpture, and contemporary art. Willett was an outstanding scholar and the book’s multiple editions and print runs are a testament to his approach to introducing African art.
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Catalogues of Museum Permanent Collections
Large survey catalogues are not abundant, but several are noteworthy. Kecskési 1987 is based on one of Europe’s outstanding African art collections. Verswijver, et al. 1995 presents some 250 artworks in that famous central African collection. National Museum of African Art 1999 documents that excellent collection, and Siegmann 2009 presents the Brooklyn Museum collection, one the finest in the United States. Lamp 2004 is a successful experiment in restoring to art in museums some of its original, contextual life. McClusky 2002 discusses a small number of pieces from the museum’s permanent collection and builds an atmosphere around them to suggest art’s interaction with many other elements of culture. With the advent of the Internet and increasing sophistication of collection databases and web interfaces, more museums present on their websites extensive information that would have formerly been published in catalogue form. Among the most extensive and detailed are the sites for the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
British Museum.
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Objects accessed through an “Explore” > “Highlights” search include interpretive text. The “Research” link allows a broader search of the collection database, but the interpretation is not as extensive.
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Kecskési, Maria. African Masterpieces and Selected Works from Munich: The Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde. New York: Center for African Art, 1987.
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This is a translation of Kunst aus dem alten Afrika (Innsbruck, Austria: Pinguin-Verlag, 1982) prepared to accompany a traveling exhibition from the holdings of the renowned Munich museum. Many objects have early collection dates and early documentation useful to researchers. Features a large number of extremely fine pieces, well illustrated, and written by one of Europe’s outstanding curators.
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Lamp, Frederick, ed. See the Music, Hear the Dance: Rethinking African Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Munich and New York: Prestel, 2004.
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Lamp responds to a decades-long dialogue among Africanist scholars about how to suggest what is lost when art is removed from its context and installed in a museum. Thirty-eight authors contribute eighty-eight essays on one hundred objects, seeking contextualizations that include costume and gesture, music, dance, and other performance dynamics.
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McClusky, Pamela. Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.
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Originally created to accompany a special exhibition of works drawn from the Seattle Art Museum’s permanent collection, this book presents twelve “case histories,” each of which weaves an atmospheric story about an artwork or group of works from snippets of songs or epic tales and statements by scholars, travelers, and others. Compelling introduction by Robert Farris Thompson.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Extensive resource for images and information. Search “Research” or “Collection” tabs for artworks in the collection, by museum gallery or African region. The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History offers many short essays and additional images accessible chronologically or by regions. Information is excellent, with links to additional materials.
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National Museum of African Art. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 1999.
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Presents many outstanding figural and nonfigural works from the museum’s collection. Much of this text and information about additional objects is available online, where the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives (see Elisofon and Fagg 1978, cited under Classic Publications before 1970) and extensive holdings of the Warren M. Robbins Library catalogue can also be accessed.
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Siegmann, William. African Art: A Century at the Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, NY, and Munich: Brooklyn Museum in association with DelMonico Books/Prestel, 2009.
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Covering permanent collection highlights, this book includes an essay on the development of the African collection and entries on 130 artworks from fifty ethnic groups arranged by large style and culture groupings. High-quality images and many useful contextual photos are also included. Includes an essay by Joseph Adande and contributions by Kevin D. Dumouchelle.
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Verswijver, Gustaaf, et al., eds. Treasures from the Africa-Museum, Tervuren. Tervuren, Belgium: Royal Museum for Central Africa, 1995.
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This catalogue of an exhibition featuring 250 of the museum’s outstanding holdings of central African art includes a brief essay on the development of the collection, followed by many superb photographs. The documentation features lengthy overviews of artworks and more succinct entries for individual pieces, contributed by twenty-five expert area scholars.
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Special Exhibition Catalogues
Special exhibition catalogues have played prominent roles in African art scholarship. Those in this section accompanied large-scale special exhibitions of a general survey nature. Sieber and Rubin 1968 (cited under Classic Publications before 1970) began the process of challenging the “one tribe, one style” concept. Susan Vogel (Vogel 1981) was first to invite area specialists to write catalogue entries. The themes in Sieber and Walker 2000 could be the core of an introductory African art course. Phillips 2004 offers a huge number of artworks to which many Africanists contributed documentation. Three entries here are general surveys of a different nature. Sieber 1972 is a groundbreaking survey of African textiles and personal adornment, and Sieber 1980 is an equally groundbreaking presentation of furniture and everyday objects. Kreamer, et al. 2007 offers a broad examination of the written scripts found in many cultures and on many artworks.
Kreamer, Christine Mullen, Mary Nooter Roberts, Elizabeth Harney, and Allyson Purpura, eds. Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art. Washington, DC: National Museum of African Art, 2007.
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Well-reasoned and insightful essays by twenty-two authors debunk Western evolutionary assertions about writing and present an array of African phonetic alphabets, logographic systems, syllabaries, and ideographic and pictographic systems, with attention to their histories. Beautiful illustrations and outstanding bibliography
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Phillips, Tom, ed. Africa, the Art of a Continent. New York: Prestel, 2004.
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This huge catalogue, originally published in 1995, includes objects from North Africa organized in an unusual, clockwise geographic arrangement. Includes introductory and topical essays, and entries written by specialists. Excellent photos.
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Sieber, Roy. African Textiles and Decorative Arts. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1972.
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This catalogue of pioneering exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art was a major catalyst for Africanist scholarship to consider artistry of cloth, clothing, and personal adornment. Gives an Africanist perspective to art history debates about art versus craft.
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Sieber, Roy. African Furniture and Household Objects. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980.
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This is a catalogue of a traveling exhibition that brought everyday African objects into the realm of artistry, with an emphasis on stools, headrests, ceramic and basketry containers, and many other works, and attention to the kinds of artisans who create them.
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Sieber, Roy, and Roslyn A. Walker. African Art in the Cycle of Life. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.
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Reprint edition of the catalogue of the 1987 exhibition that inaugurated the National Museum of African Art building on the National Mall. Includes an introduction and topical essays (continuity, transitions, secure world, governance, status and display, etc.) that divide and interpret artworks through general themes.
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Vogel, Susan Mullin, ed. For Spirits and Kings: African Art from the Paul and Ruth Tishman Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1981.
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Pioneering exhibition catalogue format, Spirits and Kings includes entries written by area specialists. Peppered throughout are entries by Kate Ezra, who scoured the literature when object experts were not available. Most illustrations are black and white. The collection was previously published in Sieber and Rubin 1968 (cited under Classic Publications before 1970) and is now part of National Museum of African Art.
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Reference Works and Visual Resources
Both image- and text-focused resources are included here. The image databases—ARTstor, the James J. Ross Archive, and the Yale University Art Gallery–Rijn Archive—generally have minimal text consisting of only basic identification. The Ross Archive is freely accessible, while anyone wishing to use the Yale–Van Rijn Archive must first apply to an address indicated on the site. Many colleges, universities, and other nonprofit institutions offer access to ARTstor using a site license. The Art and Life in Africa Project website incorporates the University of Iowa Museum of Art’s Stanley Collection of African Art database, but also includes additional photographs, essays, and documentary materials. Grove Art Online is a huge database that includes many African entries. H-Africa is a broad-based resource with numerous types of materials. While works on specific ethnic groups will appear in future Oxford Bibliographies articles, one book series must be mentioned here: Visions of Africa published by Five Continents, seeks to publish a book on each major art-producing ethnic group across Africa. The Visions series is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in up-to-date information about the arts of specific ethnic groups.
ARTstor.
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An extensive database of artworks from around the world. Africa is reasonably well covered, though there are gaps in areas and art types.
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Grove Art Online.
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Electronic version of the massive Dictionary of Art (edited by Jane Turner, 2003), available by subscription. Extensive entries on African art production, regions, and topics of interest. Searches produce many related entries, and numerous artworks are illustrated.
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H-Africa.
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Part of the H-Net consortium of scholarly lists and managed by Michigan State University, this compendium of resources includes lists of journals and dissertations, bibliographies, discussion logs, archives, research links, and reviews. A free subscription is required; instructions appear on the home page. Includes a link to H-AfrArts, expressive cultures of Africa discussion list, and a website.
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James J. Ross Archive of African Images, 1590–1920.
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This Yale University archive of about five thousand images assembled by James J. Ross and Susan Vogel seeks to present every image of African figurative art published before 1920 in books, periodicals, catalogues, newspapers, and other publications. Includes the text that accompanied the illustrations and current information by scholars.
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Roy, Christopher D. Art and Life in Africa Project.
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Informative texts, photo collections, a useful database on peoples of Africa, and links to many other resources, including Roy’s Art and Life in Africa, a related website. Emphasis on Burkina Faso, but much other information, too.
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Van Rijn Archive of African Art. Yale University Art Gallery.
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Currently about 180,000 images of traditional sub-Saharan African art (no contemporary art) from public and private collections, archives, auction catalogues, and the Africanist literature are included in this online gallery. Restricted to “knowledgeable persons in the field of African art.” Versatile search engine. Also includes maps, bibliographies, and information on people in the field.
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Visions of Africa. Milan: Five Continents, 2006–.
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The authors of this series of monographs on arts of individual ethnic groups were given considerable organizational latitude, but in general the books include sections on history, society and culture, artists and their social situations, the institutions that sponsor and utilize art, and considerable information on the arts. The volumes have extensive bibliographies and are richly illustrated. Coverage to date is limited to western and central African art.
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Bibliographies and Databases
The first printed bibliography about African art, though not included here, is L. J. P. Gaskin’s A Bibliography of African Art in 1965, a treasure trove when little else was available. Since then, annotated volumes have become standard. Ethnoarts Index, a bibliographic periodical written by Eugene Burt, was published from 1984 through 2000, covering non-Western art. Stanley 1985 is a short but extremely well-annotated general bibliography. The Arts of Africa: An Annotated Bibliography, a very detailed bibliographic periodical compiled by Janet Stanley, was begun in 1986, but ended in 1992 due to lack of funding. Two regional bibliographies have been published: Burt 1980 surveys the literature on the arts of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, while Biebuyck 1987 is a very detailed bibliography on central African visual culture. Burt 1988, though not current, is an excellent source for earlier North American theses and dissertations. Using the Art Index and JSTOR, available through many libraries, researchers can simultaneously search for references on a topic and directly access relevant articles.
Art Index.
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These are useful databases for African art articles appearing outside of African Arts (see Journals), but a library subscription is required for use. See the Art Index Retrospective for publications before 1984 (abstracts) and Art Full Text online for publications from 1984 to the present (abstracts and whole articles).
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Biebuyck, Daniel P. The Arts of Central Africa: An Annotated Bibliography. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987.
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Thorough coverage of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Categories: bibliographies, language studies, general ethnographies, travelogues, general African art studies (including catalogues), general art studies, and the nation’s broad regions. Author, ethnic group, and subject indexes.
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Burt, Eugene C. An Annotated Bibliography of the Visual Arts of East Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980.
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Sections on general publications, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Makonde. Culture, author, and subject indexes. Terse, but useful annotations. Supplement in Africana Journal 14.2–3 (1987): 205–252 cites publications available through July 1984.
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Burt, Eugene C. Ethnoart: Africa, Oceania, and the Americas: A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations. New York: Garland, 1988.
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Includes 232 theses and dissertations dealing with African art, primarily from North America, with some coverage of Europe and Africa.
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Ethnoarts Index. 1984–2000.
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Published as Tribal Arts Review until 1986, this quarterly index includes books, journals, and papers. It covers general non-Western art, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Oceania. African citations are arranged by country. Annotations are extremely short.
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JSTOR.
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This extremely valuable electronic archive currently includes full texts of fifty-one African studies journals and 185 art and art history journals, including African Arts (see Journals).
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Stanley, Janet L. African Art: A Bibliographic Guide. New York: Africana, 1985.
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This introductory guide to the literature covers periodicals, other bibliographies and reference works, general surveys, and regional studies, including books and articles. Selection criteria for 167 entries included quality of research and accuracy of information, quality and quantity of illustrations, and current relevance. Excellent annotations.
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Stanley, Janet L., comp. The Arts of Africa: An Annotated Bibliography. 6 vols. Atlanta: African Studies Association, 1986–1992.
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Covers works published from 1986 to 1992. Publication selection criteria included substance, significance, and quality. Starts with general studies in numerous categories, and then is arranged by region and nation. Annotations substantial and very useful. Includes author and subject index.
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Journals
Several journals, such as the Art Bulletin and RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, sometimes include articles on African art, but three major journals have been solely devoted to the topic. One, Arts d’Afrique noire, is no longer published. The oldest, African Arts, has become a venerated institution with enormous numbers of articles by decades of scholars. The newest, Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture, covers important contemporary and historiography topics. Another journal, Tribal Art (now Tribal), covers Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, and is oriented toward collectors. Arts & Cultures covers the same broader geographic range, but focuses on works in the extensive collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of African arts, related articles are also found in journals of archaeology, history, and anthropology.
African Arts. 1967–.
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The single most important journal for Africanist art historians, African Arts covers traditional and contemporary art through scholarly articles, photo essays, exhibition and book reviews, in memoriam articles, and columns presenting opinions on current topics. Richly illustrated. Quarterly.
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Arts & Cultures. 1999–.
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Published by the Barbier-Mueller Museum (Geneva), this annual continues Art Tribal (1987–1998). Articles cover topics related to the collections of the Barbier-Mueller Museum (classical antiquity, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the pre-Columbian Americas).
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Arts d’Afrique noire. 1972–2004.
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In many ways the French counterpart to African Arts, Arts d’Afrique noire has a stronger orientation toward collectors. Some articles are in English, but most are in French. Includes exhibition and book reviews, art sales, and articles with emphasis on the arts of French-speaking Africa. Quarterly. Black-and-white photos.
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Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture. 2007–.
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Emphasizes critical analyses of topics and issues of current importance to the visual culture of Africa and the diaspora, from traditional to modern and contemporary. Many leading scholars have contributed articles. Issues are dedicated to specific topics.
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Tribal Art. 2006–.
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Began as The World of Tribal Arts (1994–2002), and then became Tribal: The Magazine of Tribal Art (to 2005). Covers Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Object-based articles, exhibition reviews, auction news, collectors’ profiles. Quarterly; French and English editions.
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Methodology and the State of the Discipline
Combining the goals and methods of art history and ethnography, while recognizing the importance of history, studies of African visual practice are often complex. Periodic critical assessments have examined their methods and theoretical perspectives. Gerbrands 1957 (cited under Special Topics Publications before 1970) examines many publications up to the mid-20th century. Biebuyck 1983 offers much useful criticism and also covers many European sources. Ben-Amos 1989 uses a framework of anthropological theories, while Adams 1989 covers many of the same authors from an art history perspective. Ottenberg 1993 presents a personalized exploration that highlights important issues and themes. The Res 2001 special issue of essays (Pellizi 2001) emphasizes how scholars produce their interpretations of meaning. Vogel 2005 considers shifting interest from traditional to contemporary art, with essays suggesting directions for future scholarship. Clifford 1988 offers a detailed critique of humanities and social science knowledge production. An important prerequisite for this section is Ortner 1984.
Adams, Monni. “African Visual Arts from an Art Historical Perspective.” African Studies Review 32.2 (September 1989): 55–103.
DOI: 10.2307/523970Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Examines the same large time period of African art publications as Ben-Amos 1989, but from thematic perspectives (style, identity and meaning, function, history). Emphasizes art history but includes many social science authors and discusses their differences and similarities. Also examines “neglected topics.” Available online by subscription.
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Ben-Amos, Paula. “African Visual Arts from a Social Perspective.” African Studies Review 32.2 (September 1989): 1–53.
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In-depth analysis and critique of African art publications to the 1980s, from anthropological vantage points. Insightfully relates art studies to three key perspectives: historical-particularist, functionalist, and structural-symbolic. Covers a great deal of literature, points out important shortcomings, and suggests directions for future research. Available online by subscription.
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Biebuyck, Daniel. “African Art Studies since 1957: Achievements and Directions.” African Studies Review 26.3/4 (September/December 1983): 99–118.
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Covers the 20th century to 1983. Broad examination of accomplishments and what needs to be done, often in very generalizing terms and quite critically. Singles out several authors (including Marcel Griaule) for special, lengthier examination. Noteworthy for emphasis on European authors. Available online by subscription.
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Clifford, James. The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988.
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Not specifically focused on Africa, but a sophisticated look at social sciences and humanities practices. Penetrating examination of Marcel Griaule and his followers, ethnology and surrealism, interview strategies, ethnographic writing, collecting, museum display, and how local people and researchers encounter each other. The author helped pioneer the concept of ethnography as fiction.
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Ortner, Sherry B. “Theory in Anthropology since the Sixties.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 26.1 (1984): 126–166.
DOI: 10.1017/S0010417500010811Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Surveys anthropological theory up to and including action theory. Very useful for understanding the theoretical bases for much African art scholarship. Available online by subscription.
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Ottenberg, Simon. “Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Heading? Forty Years of African Art Studies: ACASA Leadership Award Address.” African Arts 26.1 (January 1993): 71–73, 91–93, 103–104.
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Personalized and insightful view of the development of African art studies in America and Europe, along with developments in the arts themselves. Considers many important issues, among them tradition, aesthetics, art and psychology, experience and learning, exhibiting, and performance. Available online by subscription.
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Pellizi, Francesco, ed. Special Issue: African Works. Res: Aesthetics and Anthropology 39 (Spring 2001).
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This Res special issue focuses on how meaning in visual practice emerges from cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue. Several noted art historians and anthropologists examine artworks or local visual culture concepts from Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo using multiple perspectives, with the aim of assessing African art studies.
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Vogel, Susan Mullin, ed. Special Issue: Emerging Scholarship in African Art. African Arts 38.4 (Winter 2005).
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Vogel offers a generalized sketch of African art studies now, emphasizing the rising interest in the contemporary at the expense of older established traditions. The remaining eight articles are drawn from the 2005 Columbia University symposium she chaired, which sought new directions of scholarship for the study of traditional African art. Available online by subscription.
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Art and Archaeology
There has not been enough professional archaeological activity on the continent for art scholars to reconstruct a broad or precise art history. Funding for archaeology projects has been minimal compared to that enjoyed by pre-Columbian archaeologists or Egyptologists, but growing numbers of archaeologists from Africa, North America, and Europe are making innovative contributions. Nigeria has received the most attention. Willett 1967 (cited under Regional and Ethnic Surveys Before 1970) was one of the earliest and remains valuable. Shaw 1970 is a treasure trove of photographs and information on the important finds at Igbo-Ukwu. Shaw 1978 summarizes many of the art-producing ancient cultures of Nigeria. Mali and the Niger River basin are receiving increased attention. Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux 1993 presents an encyclopedic body of essays that cover that vast basin and more. McIntosh 2005, though not completely focused on art, offers important material on the ancient arts of Mali. Lewis-Williams 1983 presents an interesting interpretation of southern Africa’s rock art. Finally, Garlake 2002 offers a useful overview summary of Africa’s ancient arts across the continent.
Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, ed. Vallées du Niger. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1993.
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This enormous catalogue of a traveling exhibition features the ancient arts and cultures along the Niger River watershed and beyond. Includes numerous essays by archaeologists and cultural historians and many maps. Valuable for comparative research.
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Garlake, Peter S. Early Art and Architecture of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
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Excellent introduction to and survey of the ancient arts of Africa. Arranged geographically with attention to chronology and cultural contexts. This most distinguished archaeologist gives a clear, concise window into some of Africa’s most profound art. Concise but useful bibliography.
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Lewis-Williams, J. David. The Rock Art of Southern Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
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Overview promoting the author’s theory that the beliefs and customs of living San peoples offer the best basis for interpreting images. The argument is presented in greater detail in his Believing and Seeing: Symbolic Meanings in Southern San Rock Paintings (London: Academic Press, 1981), but, unlike that volume, this one contains many color photographs.
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McIntosh, Roderick J. Ancient Middle Niger: Urbanism and the Self-Organizing Landscape. Case Studies in Early Societies, 7. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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Not directly focused on art but critical to understanding the archaeological advances in excavation, survey, and interpretation that transform our understanding of the Middle Niger terracottas and many aspects of art, culture, and history across West Africa. Covers commerce, urbanization, professional specialization, metallurgy, and much more. Detailed forty-page bibliography.
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Shaw, Thurstan. Igbo-Ukwu: An Account of Archaeological Discoveries in Eastern Nigeria. 2 vols. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1970.
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Celebrated site report expanded and complicated scholarly ideas about ancient Nigerian art. Volume 1 presents site geography and history, excavations’ description, the finds (metal, pottery, beads, textiles, bone, other organic remains, and stone), dating, and cultural assessment, plus detailed appendices. Volume 2 presents 514 plates.
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Shaw, Thurstan. Nigeria: Its Archaeology and Early History. London: Thames & Hudson, 1978.
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Discusses early occupation, hunting and gathering, farming, and metal working, where Nok begins, followed by Igbo-Ukwu, Ife, and Benin. Somewhat dated, but a good overview and starting point for undergraduates and graduates, with an emphasis on art.
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Special Issues and Topics
Several significant topics emerged in the 1970s and remain critical. The importance of some—leadership arts, spirituality, and performance, for example—was obvious early on. Others—aesthetics, style and ethnicity, individual artists, and authorship—emerged more slowly, as the lacuna in scholarship became increasingly obvious and growing bodies of research negated earlier assumptions. The sections that follow describe outstanding publications on these topics.
Aesthetics
A major area of debate in African art scholarship has been the presence or absence of aesthetics in African societies. Decades of Western scholars said that Africans had no aesthetics. Roy Sieber insisted that aesthetic awareness was part of people’s engagement with art, but that most people did not articulate it in words. Later many researchers were able to identify those words, along with an impressive array of aesthetic behavior and critique. D’Azevedo 1958 (cited under Special Topics Publications before 1970) offers early, clear proof of strong aesthetic awareness while suggesting whole new ways of conceiving of art. Essays by Roy Sieber, Irwin L. Child and Leon Siroto, Daniel J. Crowley, James W. Fernandez, and Robert Farris Thompson in Jopling 1971 appeared when most Africanists were convinced that function was everything and form virtually meaningless to Africans. Ottenberg 1971 presents a series of considerations on African art and aesthetics that were ahead of their time and are still relevant. Thompson (Thompson 1973) goes beyond anyone before with an examination of what he called “the aesthetic of the cool” that involved social practice, morality, and the construction of form across many ethnic groups. Fernandez 1977 offers a rich articulation of the aesthetics the author found in Fang social action and artistry. Ezra 1986 presents both Bamana words for art and aesthetic concepts, while Boone 1986 does the same for the Mende woman’s association called Sande. Vogel 1986 looks closely at artworks from the Monzino collection and describes a number of features that clearly demonstrate aesthetic acumen. Abiodun, et al. 1991 presents a densely packed and lavishly detailed constellation of Yoruba principles of accomplished artistry, along with its invariable engagement with social practices, philosophy, and the nature of creativity. Although Arnoldi 1995 is cited under Performance and Strother 1998 is cited under Artists and Authorship, they could as reasonably appear here.
Abiodun, Rowland, Henry John Drewal, and John Pemberton III. Yoruba: Art and Aesthetics. Zurich, Switzerland: Museum Rietberg and New York: Center for African Art, 1991.
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This catalogue features a lengthy essay packed with information on philosophical concepts, aesthetic terminology, and analyses of Ife sculptures and Yoruba divination art, elders’ bronzes, and beaded crowns. Includes an excellent discussion of specific artists and workshops, featuring Olówè of Isè.
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Boone, Sylvia Ardyn. Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art. Yale Publications in the History of Art. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986.
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Boone’s text examines ideals of beauty, their relationship to society, and their presence in the institution and masks of Sande society. Beautiful photos and sensitive text.
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Ezra, Kate. A Human Ideal in African Art: Bamana Figurative Sculpture. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1986.
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This small exhibition catalogue presents excellent aesthetic information on Bamana (Bambara) artistic production, as well as contextual material. Includes a discussion of the now famous large-scale figure sculptures from southern Mali, and the Jo society to which they belong.
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Fernandez, James W. Fang Architectonics. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1977.
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Fernandez, an early advocate of aesthetics’ relevance to art and ethnological studies, explores Fang aesthetics in sculpture, architecture, and society.
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Jopling, Carol F., ed. Art and Aesthetics in Primitive Societies: A Critical Anthology. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1971.
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The four essays on African aesthetics by Daniel J. Crowley, James W. Fernandez, Roy Sieber, and Robert Farris Thompson included in this anthology were pioneering when they were published, and are still very important. A fifth, co-authored by Leon Siroto, compares Kwele and American aesthetic evaluations. Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Science of the Concrete,” is also included.
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Ottenberg, Simon. Anthropology and African Aesthetics. Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 1971.
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This book is more than forty years old, but considers several issues still important today.
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Thompson, Robert Farris. “An Aesthetic of the Cool.” African Arts 7.1 (Autumn 1973): 40–43, 64–67, 89–91.
DOI: 10.2307/3334749Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Pioneering and seminal, this article explores artistic tenets spread across ethnic groups and joined in many ways to ethics and a philosophy of lived experience. One of first scholars (with Warren L. d’Azevedo and James W. Fernandez) to promote the importance of aesthetics as a dynamic part of culture and society. Available online by subscription.
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Vogel, Susan Mullin, and Mario Carrieri. African Aesthetics: The Carlo Monzino Collection. New York: Museum for African Art, 1986.
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In this catalogue of a private collection, a seven-page essay generalizes about aesthetics using important features of African artworks, followed by a lengthy section on visual analysis that is detailed and extremely sensitive to formal nuance.
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Style and Ethnicity
Ethnicity, language, and features of geography and ecology have all been considered in the quest to understand style distributions. In the first half of the 20th century, ethnicity and style were rigidly linked by many authors under the influence of colonialism and its emphasis on “tribe.” Fagg 1965 (cited under Classic Publications before 1970) is an excellent example, while Sieber and Rubin 1968 (cited under Classic Publications before 1970) sought new approaches, especially linguistic and geographic, to which later publications have responded (Bravmann 1973, Museum of African Art 1976). Kasfir 1984 presents an extremely systematic critique of the style-ethnicity link, while reviewing other attempts to explain style distributions. A special issue of African Arts considers the relationship of style to commerce, politics, and cultural change. A double article by McNaughton (McNaughton 1991, McNaughton 1992) explores the possible explanations for very long-distance interactions of style and art traditions. Now many years and publications later it seems obvious that style is complexly linked to human agency and responds to local and regional interactions among artists, audiences, and art-using institutions. History is the most important diagnostic to understanding style relationships.
African Arts 20.4 (August 1987).
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This issue, devoted to style and ethnicity, includes papers from the African Studies Association panel organized by Patrick McNaughton that examine importance of cultural change, politics, commerce, the stature and motivation of sculptors, and clients’ interests in the movement of objects, ideas, and forms. Available online by subscription.
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Bravmann, René A. Open Frontiers: The Mobility of Art in Black Africa. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1973.
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Bravmann argues strongly against the notion of one tribe, one style (see Fagg 1965, cited under Classic Publications before 1970) and examines weaknesses in emphasizing linkages between language and style (see Sieber and Rubin 1968, cited under Classic Publications before 1970). Considers boundaries between peoples to be open and fluid, due to various types of interaction in which materials, ideas, and forms are exchanged.
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Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield. “One Tribe, One Style? Paradigms in the Historiography of African Art.” History in Africa 11 (1984): 163–193.
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Scrutinizes the tribal-style fallacy and considers the meaning of ethnicity, the ahistorical conceptualization of an ethnographic present, assumptions about tradition, concepts of culture areas and style centers, population density and formal trait diffusion, institutions within society, process models, and the roles of individual artists. Available online by subscription.
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McNaughton, Patrick R. “Is There History in Horizontal Masks? A Preliminary Response to the Dilemma of Form.” African Arts 24.2 (April 1991): 40–53, 88–90.
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Takes issues of form and cultural interaction across ethnic boundaries to their plausible limits by examining a distinctive category of horizontal helmet masks that are distributed from the Republic of Guinea to Cameroon. Considers the possible explanations and mechanisms for such mobility. Available online by subscription.
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McNaughton, Patrick R. “From Mande Komo to Jukun Akuma: Approaching the Difficult Question of History.” African Arts 25.2 (April 1992): 76–85, 99–100.
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This article continues the examination begun in McNaughton 1991. Available online by subscription.
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Museum of African Art (United States). The Sculptor’s Eye: The African Art Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Chaim Gross. Washington, DC: Museum of African Art, 1976.
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Catalogue of a private collection; essay and object captions by Arnold Rubin seek to refine ideas about style’s relationship to language, culture, and geography set forth in Sieber and Rubin 1968 (cited under Classic Publications before 1970), using linguistic relationships, political structures, and river systems. Introductory essay also summarizes several problematic issues in African art studies.
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Artists and Authorship
The early emphasis on ethnography, with its focus on generalization and whole social systems, coupled with Africanist art historians’ motivation to seek the meanings and uses of art, left little room for studies of individual artists and little consideration for why that would be important. There were some early exceptions (Biebuyck 1973, Bohannan 1961, Himmelheber 1963, all cited under Special Topics Publications before 1970). Then several seminal essays appeared in an anthology examining the roles and social situations of African artists (d’Azevedo 1973). A variety of short publications followed (see Ben-Amos 1989, pp. 25–29; and Adams 1989, p. 66, both cited under Methodology and the State of the Discipline), along with a symposium at the University of Iowa in 1985 (Roy 1987). African Arts published a double issue on artists and authorship (LaGamma 1998). In the same year, Roslyn Walker published her biography on Olówè of Isè (Walker 1998), the first extended monograph on the life and work of a single traditional African artist. Abiodun, et al. 1994 presented important elements of Yoruba artistic production and the ways it is praised. Arnoldi 1995 (cited under Performance) and Strother 1998 offer very detailed analyses of how individual and group creativity interrelate in two different masquerade traditions. McNaughton 2008 examines in detail one Bamana performance artist and the ways he both fits into and influences his society.
Abiodun, Rowland, Henry John Drewal, and John Pemberton, eds. The Yoruba Artist: New Theoretical Perspectives on African Arts. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
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This collection of essays emerged from a symposium at the 1992 Zurich opening of Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. Not that focused on individual artists, but an insightful examination of the nature of Yoruba creativity, the circumstances of artistic production, and the ways it is praised.
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d’Azevedo, Warren L., ed. The Traditional Artist in African Societies. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973.
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This compendium of in-depth essays focused on the role of artists in African societies contains several of the best studies on how artists relate to their communities and the social systems within which they work. Reprinted in 1989.
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LaGamma, Alisa, ed. Special Issue: Authorship in African Art, Part 1. African Arts 31.4 (Autumn 1998.
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Part 2: African Arts 32.1 (Spring 1999). These articles present diverging interpretations on the importance and roles of individual artists in their societies, demonstrating the necessity of examining closely the lived experience of artists to better understand the experiences they provide their communities. Available online by subscription.
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McNaughton, Patrick R. A Bird Dance near Saturday City: Sidi Ballo and the Art of West African Masquerade. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008.
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Using a performance by a virtuoso masquerader as starting point, McNaughton closely examines the biography, attributes, and orientations of one artist, in a complex environment of creativity, sorcery, symbolism, and aesthetic acumen. He emphasizes the influence artists can exercise in society and the importance of their personalities to their art.
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Roy, Christopher D., ed. The Artist and the Workshop in Traditional Africa: Third Symposium on African Art, May 10–11, 1985. Iowa Studies in African Art 2. Iowa City: University of Iowa, 1987.
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Focuses largely on ideas about artists, their training, and the social conditions of art production, but individual artists are described. Demonstrates the value of looking at actual artists.
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Strother, Z. S. Inventing Masks: Agency and History in the Art of the Central Pende. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
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The text examines the dynamic process of interaction among individuals that leads to a high degree of creativity and invention in central Pende masking traditions. Divided into sections on process of invention and Pende history of invention.
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Walker, Roslyn A. Olówè of Isè: A Yoruba Sculptor to Kings. Washington, DC: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1998.
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Accompanying a groundbreaking exhibition, this biography and catalogue raisonné includes good photos and informative catalogue entries.
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Arts of Leadership and Political Power
African leadership arts have always been a prominent theme in the literature. The earliest travelers describe royal art in the courts of the Ghana and Mali empires, none of which has survived. European explorers and then colonial conquerors were very well aware of polities that featured art to further their power. Serious art historical study of the topic began with the Fraser and Cole 2004 anthology. Ben-Amos 1995 offers a short and very readable summary of Benin art, a subject examined in much greater detail from many authors’ perspectives in Plankensteiner 2007. A large corpus of leadership arts from Cameroon to the Congo River basin is presented in Beumers and Koloss 1992. Blier 1998 offers a useful survey of the best-known royal arts across the continent. Willett 1967 (cited under Regional and Ethnic Surveys Before 1970) and Garlake 2002 (cited under Art and Archaeology) present leadership arts from archaeological perspectives. Petridis 2008 (cited under Central African Art and Spirituality) could easily be placed in this section, too. More recently, LaGamma 2011 contextualizes leadership portrait sculpture from kingdoms and chiefdoms in western and central Africa, while Drewal and Schildkrout 2010 synthesizes much Ife information while presenting many slightly lesser-known but important artworks.
Ben-Amos, Paula. The Art of Benin. 2d rev. ed. London: British Museum Press, 1995.
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First published in 1980, this in-depth exploration of a famous city-state and its renowned royal art examines art within ritual and belief, leadership and politics, and history. An excellent introduction to an area of study now overflowing with literature.
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Beumers, Erna, and Hans-Joachim Koloss, eds. Kings of Africa: Art and Authority in Central Africa, Collection Museum für Völkerkunde Berlin. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Foundation Kings of Africa, 1992.
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Cameroon Grasslands and central African polities such as Kongo, Chokwe, and Kuba are featured, along with Yaka, Pende, Luba, Songye, and several others. Includes essays by noted scholars, outstanding photographs, and detailed catalogue entries.
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Blier, Suzanne Preston. The Royal Arts of Africa: The Majesty of Form. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998.
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This very readable description of complex programs of art that announce, authenticate, and enhance the powers of kingship features the states of Asante, Dahomey, Yoruba, Benin, Cameroon Grasslands, Kongo, and Kuba, after an introduction that briefly considers concepts associated with leadership and its visual expression in Africa.
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Drewal, Henry John, and Enid Schildkrout. Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010.
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This catalogue of a major traveling exhibition is the most extensive examination to date of the art, culture, and history of the Ife. Lengthy essays and object entries include many well-known copper-alloy objects as well as lesser-known terracotta works. Excellent photographs, bibliography, and glossary.
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Fraser, Douglas, and Herbert M. Cole, eds. African Art and Leadership. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2004.
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Excellent early essays first published in 1972, six of which emerged from a Columbia University symposium, with eight more solicited later. Covers Lega, Chokwe, Kuba, Kwele, Igbo, Cameroon, Asante, Baule, Ife, and Yoruba.
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LaGamma, Alisa. Heroic Africans: Legendary Leaders, Iconic Sculptures. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011.
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Examines leadership portraiture in eight major centralized polities: Benin, Ife, Akan, Cameroon Grasslands, Kuba, Chokwe, Luluwa, and Hemba. Extensive contextual and historical materials. Superb photos, including many historical in situ views.
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Plankensteiner, Barbara, ed. Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria. Ghent, Belgium: Snoeck, 2007.
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This catalogue of a blockbuster traveling exhibition includes highly informative essays by more than twenty Benin scholars, and an extensively documented and lavishly illustrated assemblage of well-known and lesser-known artworks. Also includes numerous contextualizing photographs and an extensive bibliography.
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Art and Spirituality
Undoubtedly the most common topic in African art studies is spirituality. There are huge numbers of publications across a wide range of artistic traditions. Many more publications include spirituality as part of their broader contents. Numerous subthemes exist. African conceptualizations and practices involving art are the most numerous and include major and minor deities, wilderness and ancestral spirits, and sources of the world’s energy (the forces that animate everything) that are frequently grounded in combinations of religious and natural science principles. Other subthemes include Islam and Christianity and their relationship to art. Ritual expertise and activities are frequent subthemes, as are institutions of arcane knowledge, coming-of-age initiation associations, associations that address particular social needs, and even the concept of secrecy. The transformation of art traditions from spiritual to secular due to Islamic, Christian, and Western cultural influences is another recurrent topic. Because this amalgamation of subthemes is so ubiquitous, the most productive way to divide the Art and Spirituality section is by region: general, west, and central Africa. Bravmann 1984 offers a broad glimpse of the dynamic presence of Islam in the arts and visual culture of the continent. Anderson and Kreamer 1989 considers the widespread belief in wilderness spirits, the powers that emerge from them, and the healing resources that emerge from them and the wilderness they inhabit. Nooter 1993 examines the dynamic theme of secrecy. Drewal 2008 is a massive tome of essays on the well-known spirit Mami Wata, as well as various other related spiritual entities. Divination is traditionally an important practice for many aspects of people’s lives in African societies. While Peek 1991 does not focus directly on artworks, the essays explore conceptualizations of divination procedures and processes. Pemberton 2000 offers essays on many divination practices that feature artworks. LaGamma and Pemberton 2000 focuses mostly on Central Africa and Yoruba practices, with an emphasis on their enhancement through beautiful objects and lengthy catalogue entries on specific pieces.
Anderson, Martha G., and Christine Mullen Kreamer. Wild Spirits, Strong Medicine: African Art and the Wilderness. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1989.
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This exhibition catalogue provides a general introduction to widely held beliefs about the world and its unseen forces. Includes essays on wilderness, spirits, power, and the people (such as hunters, herbal doctors, sorcerers, and diviners) who interact with them and a well-illustrated survey of the artworks used in those interactions.
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Bravmann, René A. African Islam. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984.
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This exhibition catalogue considers general aspects of Islam in Africa, and then examines a wide range of objects, from writing tablets and amulets, to swords and ceremonial objects, to masks and figures. The premise is that artistic expression demonstrates the fluid, fruitful, and deep historical relationship between Islam and African societies.
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Drewal, Henry John, ed. Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and Other Divinities in Africa and the Diaspora. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008.
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In this ambitious comparative study forty-six area specialists emphasize Nigeria but include much of Africa and Indian Ocean and Western hemisphere in detailed essays on the famous water goddess and other spiritual personages. Includes a DVD and twenty-five-page bibliography. Drewal offers an excellent overview introduction.
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LaGamma, Alisa, and John Pemberton. Art and Oracle: African Art and Rituals of Divination. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
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Pemberton provides an introductory overview in this exhibition catalogue that focuses mostly on the Yoruba peoples and on central Africa. LaGamma’s catalogue entries are lengthy, richly informative, and aimed at illuminating the subtheme of beauty’s affective presence.
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Nooter, Mary H., ed. Secrecy: African Art That Conceals and Reveals. New York: Prestel, 1993.
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Exhibition catalogue with thirteen scholars examining concepts, practices, and numerous visual culture traditions informing the use of secrecy as a sophisticated, dynamic social resource in many African societies. Thought-provoking array of objects and contextual photographs.
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Peek, Philip M. African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.
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This collection of essays is not focused on art but is important for art studies. Divided into themes such as becoming a diviner, the search for knowledge, culture systems, and the nature of truth.
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Pemberton, John, ed. Insight and Artistry in African Divination. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000.
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Fourteen scholars write on a wide range of divinatory practices and artworks, with an emphasis on contextual understanding. Divided into sections on methodology, Central Africa, and West Africa. Useful glossary and context photos.
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West African Art and Spirituality
Thompson 1976 showed how intertwined Yoruba spiritual art can be with social and political realities. Bravmann 1974 explores a history of engagement with Islam through three case studies of masking types used by several ethnic groups. Imperato 1978 provides a detailed and clear description of Dogon art and its pervasive spiritual contents. Meyer 1981 presents the most complicated constellations of spiritual beliefs and their articulation in Lobi art. Blier 1995 uses a variety of theoretical approaches to understand the supercharged objects and artworks of the spiritual tradition known as Vodun. Imperato 2001 examines the spiritual thought and power that impregnate the architectural elements now well known in the west as Bamana door locks. Doris 2011 provides an exceptionally intricate analysis of very abstract Yoruba objects created from simple organic or human-made materials, showing how people engage them and each other in troubled Nigerian times.
Blier, Suzanne Preston. African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
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This is a close examination of artworks and objects that harbor tremendous spiritual force in coastal Togo and the Republic of Benin. These now famous works are considered from ethnographic, art historical, and psychological perspectives as provocative elements of expressive culture, along with their history and their historical spread into the Western hemisphere.
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Bravmann, René A. Islam and Tribal Art in West Africa. London and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974.
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This was the first work to examine in depth the accommodations Islam can make to local art practices and the fluid nature of African expressive culture. Includes a discussion of three masking traditions in eastern Côte d’Ivoire and west-central Ghana, along with much historical information and a useful discussion of Islam in West Africa.
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Doris, David Todd. Vigilant Things: On Thieves, Yoruba Anti-Aesthetics, and the Strange Fates of Ordinary Objects in Nigeria. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
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Presents a thorough, imaginative, insightful exploration of Yoruba creations from natural and quotidian materials, used to deter theft. Examines the history, tradition, complex social agency, and visual interpretations that constantly foreground Yoruba thought and theory. Demonstrates researchers’ need to go beyond generalizations and not downplay complexity.
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Imperato, Pascal James. Dogon Cliff Dwellers: The Art of Mali’s Mountain People. New York: L. Kahan Gallery/African Arts, 1978.
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This informative publication on Dogon art and culture arose out of the author’s extensive personal fieldwork and well-reasoned interpretation of earlier literature. Includes history, social organization, and works through Dogon visual culture, describing its deeply religious character.
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Imperato, Pascal James. Legends, Sorcerers, and Enchanted Lizards: Door Locks of the Bamana of Mali. New York: Holmes & Meier, 2001.
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Much spiritual thought and potency can inhabit even the smallest household objects, which this exhibition catalogue demonstrates expertly. Bamana (Bambara) social and spiritual concepts are first presented, with an emphasis on institutions and artworks. Details about door locks follow, from their production and use to the rich, deep spiritual meanings they project.
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Meyer, Piet. Kunst und Religion der Lobi. Publikationsstiftung für das Museum Rietberg Zürich, 3. Zurich, Switzerland: Museum Rietberg, 1981.
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This superb, intricate look at the complicated spiritual-social life of a complex people examines thila, important spiritual beings; soothsayers, who communicate with them; sculptures, which become living beings through thila activation; and sculptors, with a detailed focus on sculptor Sikire Kambire and his students. Aesthetics and metal works are also covered.
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Thompson, Robert Farris. Black Gods and Kings: Yoruba Art at UCLA; Occasional Papers of the Museum and Laboratories of Ethnic Arts and Technology, University of California Los Angeles. Reprint ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976.
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First published in 1971, the catalogue of the first major Yoruba exhibition includes chapters on many art types that emphasize their aesthetic, philosophical, social, and political engagement with deep-seated Yoruba spirituality. Also considers the religious significance of materials used in art.
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Central African Art and Spirituality
Reliquary figures and power figures are the two most widely cited central African sculptures connected with spiritual practices. LaGamma 2007 considers a variety of reliquary sculpture traditions in central Africa, emphasizing those of the Kota and Fang of Gabon. The broadest treatment of power sculptures is Petridis 2008, which presents the power sculptures of four closely related ethnic groups and shows their spiritual relationship to political power. Two works in this section focus on Kongo peoples, the makers of the dramatic power figures that bristle with nails and spikes. Thompson and Cornet 1981 presents a complex body of beliefs that link the spiritual and the philosophical, and show how they invest a wide range of objects with power and significance that plays out in Kongo social and political arenas. MacGaffey and Harris 1993 is even more focused, presenting historical, social, and spiritual information on the power sculptures specifically.
LaGamma, Alisa, ed. Eternal Ancestors: The Art of the Central African Reliquary. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.
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Covers mostly reliquary figures from Fang, Kota, and neighboring people, but also some masks from Gabon, and Teke and Kongo figures. Includes essays on religion and aesthetics. Extensive catalogue documentation and bibliography.
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MacGaffey, Wyatt, and Michael D. Harris. Astonishment & Power: Kongo Minkisi/The Art of Renée Stout. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.
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This innovative exhibition catalogue explores the meanings and uses of Kongo power objects through the writings of local Christian converts. Much social, spiritual, and historical information. The second half of the catalogue presents African American artist Renée Stout and her exploration of these objects and their history in her own art.
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Petridis, Constantine. Art and Power in the Central African Savanna: Luba, Songye, Chokwe, Luluwa. Antwerp, Belgium: Mercatorfonds, 2008.
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Exhibition catalogue examines the power sculptures of four closely related ethnic groups, discussing their curative, protective, judicial, and hurtful capabilities and relating them to political leadership, with chapters devoted to each of the four groups.
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Thompson, Robert Farris, and Joseph Cornet. The Four Moments of the Sun: Kongo Art in Two Worlds. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1981.
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Exhibition catalogue examines Kongo sculpture forms in wood, cloth, stone, and clay as fulcrum points of spiritual expression and points of intersection with central African society and politics. Healing and herbalism, law, ideographic signs, hunters, drummers, and more are covered, as are Kongo expressions in the new world.
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Materials and Techniques
Though wood is generally the material considered synonymous with African art, there is actually much variety, even in sculpture. Wood, iron, copper alloys, gold, clay, and more can form the core of objects, and any number of additional materials—from feathers and quills to hide, claws, teeth, and bone—may be added. Generally these materials possess special qualities that generate meaning and influence function. Many of the works such as Anderson and Kreamer 1989, cited under Art and Spirituality, and those included in its subsections (such as MacGaffey and Harris 1993 and Thompson and Cornet 1981, cited under Central African Art and Spirituality; Thompson 1976, Blier 1995, and Doris 2011, cited under West African Art and Spirituality) consider aspects of materials and how they are transformed into artworks. Rubin 1975 initiated serious scholarly study of the many attachments to sculptures that harbor and activate potent spiritual and medicinal forces. Kahan, et al. 2009 explores the meanings and significance of sculpture’s embellished surfaces, from decoration to spiritual potency. Techniques and expertise in the manipulating of materials are also important, and often very impressive. Imperato 2001 (cited under West African Art and Spirituality) and Himmelheber 1963 (cited under Special Topics Publications before 1970) consider techniques. A series of DVDs by Christopher Roy (African Art Videos) presents very rich information on techniques of working wood, clay, iron, copper alloys, and more.
Kahan, Leonard, Donna Page, and Pascal James Imperato, eds. Surfaces: Color, Substances, and Ritual Applications on African Sculpture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009.
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Essays by six scholars examine the surfaces of artworks, considering why materials are chosen, how they are articulated, and what makes them significant. One appendix covers pigments, dyes, and materials applied to surfaces, and another covers the types of wood used to carve sculpture.
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Roy, Christopher D. African Art Videos.
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Includes a selection of videos on African carving, pottery making, metalworking, and weaving techniques. Processes have been recorded in detail, generally from beginning to end. Minimal but useful narrative voiceovers. Trailers can be viewed online and entire videos are available for purchase.
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Rubin, Arnold. “Accumulation: Power and Display in African Sculpture.” Artforum 13.9 (May 1975): 35–47.
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Revised from 1974 catalogue essay African Accumulative Sculpture: Power and Display (New York: Pace Editions), this was the first serious discussion of the substances added systematically to some objects. Thought-provoking scholar Rubin also describes the divide between art history and ethnography. An abridged form of the article is available in Janet Catherine Berlo and Lee Anne Wilson, Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas: Selected Readings (Boston: Prentice Hall, 1992).
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Performance
An examination of performance is intrinsic to an understanding of most African art. Masks and masquerades are obvious examples, but figurative sculptures, shrines, staffs, and other emblematic objects, along with numerous types of royal and spiritual regalia, often involve performance, too. The misrepresentation produced by removing objects from their dynamic contexts of use to place them in static museum exhibitions has been a recurrent theme in the literature. Thompson 1974 uses movement and gesture as points of departure to examine dynamic art traditions across Africa, and Kasfir 1988 embeds performance in the masquerades of cultures across West Africa (including one audio performance devoid of visual apparatus), but most publications on this topic address a single performance genre. Drewal and Drewal 1983 presents a richly informative exploration of one Yoruba mask type and its performance context. Arnoldi 1995 offers a very fine-grained examination of one performance institution, the Mande youth association. McNaughton 2008 (cited under Artists and Authorship) could also be consulted for its details on Mande bird masquerading. Reed 2003 is an ethnomusicologist’s demonstration of a Dan performance tradition that brings powerful audio and visual elements together most synergistically. Christopher Roy’s African Art Videos present the opportunity to see actual masquerade performances.
Arnoldi, Mary Jo. Playing with Time: Art and Performance in Central Mali. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995.
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Grounded in research that should be a model for scholars, this exceptionally thorough study examines the youth association, a dynamic formal institution, and its masquerade theater. Social, conceptual, and artistic contexts are all examined, as are masquerade creation, construction, and performance.
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Drewal, Henry John, and Margaret Thompson Drewal. Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983.
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Richly detailed, in-depth study of a major Yoruba association, for which masquerades perform to please women and harness their spiritual power, covers history, symbolism, dynamics of performance, and Yoruba concepts of the cosmos and human interaction with it are covered. Includes many object and context photographs.
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Kasfir, Sidney Littlefield, ed. West African Masks and Cultural Systems. Annales: Sciences humaines 126. Tervuren, Belgium: Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale, 1988.
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These essays focus on the relationships of masking traditions to the important concepts and beliefs that characterize societies and influence lived experience. Nigeria is featured, but Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia are included, with two essays addressing larger issues. Very useful comparative study.
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Reed, Daniel B. Dan Ge Performance: Masks and Music in Contemporary Côte d’Ivoire. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
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Reed investigates the synergy produced when music and sculpture merge. The text covers the conceptual and spiritual underpinnings of mask performance as well as social, political, and personal uses of this expressive tradition. Key words and concepts are clearly explained, as is the often-misunderstood concept of “tradition.”
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Roy, Christopher D. African Art Videos.
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Includes selection of videos of masquerade performances in Burkina Faso. Minimal but useful narrative voiceovers. Trailers can be viewed online and entire videos are available for purchase.
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Thompson, Robert Farris. African Art in Motion; Icon and Act in the Collection of Katherine Coryton White. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1974.
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This exhibition catalogue is a groundbreaking art historical study that explores the importance of motion in African mask and masquerade traditions. Ethics, aesthetics, spirituality, philosophy, and important societal conceptualizations of the world and people’s place in it are covered, as the author focuses on art forms and performance traditions.
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Exhibiting African Art
In museum exhibitions artworks are gateways to other cultures, but through the intermediaries of curators and designers. How museums represent Africa has become an enormous issue involving critiques of disembodied artworks and principles of documentation and display that suggest the works’ original significance and vitality (McClusky 2002 and Lamp 2004, both cited under Catalogues of Museum Permanent Collections, and Thompson 1974, cited under Performance). Debates include merits of highlighting artworks’ aesthetic qualities (Sweeney 1969, cited under Classic Publications before 1970) and the most basic issue of how one culture can reasonably represent another (Clifford 1988, cited under Methodology and the State of the Discipline). Ardouin and Arinze 1995 presents multiple perspectives on small African community museums. Arnoldi, et al. 1996 considers representation and misrepresentation from several vantage points. Price 2007 details the creation and critique of the Musée du Quai Branly. Berzock and Clarke 2011 presents essays by Africanist curators on their collections.
Ardouin, Claude Daniel, and Emmanuel Arinze, eds. Museums and the Community in West Africa. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995.
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Seventeen essays by curators in West Africa consider the value and responsibilities of small, community museums. This important topic also bears on the issue of heritage and patrimony (see Buying, Selling, and Repatriation).
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Arnoldi, Mary Jo, Christraud Geary, and Kris L. Hardin, eds. African Material Culture. Papers presented at an international conference in Bellagio, Italy, 19–27 May 1988. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
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Essays from a symposium examine a range of issues including misrepresentation of objects and cultures, the effects of collecting and commoditization of objects, the colonial influence on collecting, and African versus Western perspectives.
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Berzock, Kathleen Bickford, and Christa Clarke, eds. Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2011.
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Thirteen essays by curators of African art in American museums examine the creations of their collections and consider a variety of important issues of collecting, display, and representation.
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Price, Sally. Paris Primitive: Jacques Chirac’s Museum on the Quai Branly. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
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An in-depth and well-documented examination of how the Quai Branly came to be, and how it presents artworks and represents cultures of the non-Western world.
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Buying, Selling, and Repatriation
The buying and selling of African art has become big business, with shops and galleries in virtually every capital of Africa, Europe, and America. Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the major auction houses selling African art, now offer their auction catalogues online along with an ever-enlarging database of objects from past sales. Steiner 1994 examines several aspects of the nonauction trade, as does the video In and Out of Africa (Barbash and Taylor 2004). Large numbers of artworks leave African nations illegally; a web search for looting of national heritage in African nations illustrates the depth and breadth of the problem, which is also explored in Schmidt and McIntosh 1996. McNaughton 1995 offers a more specific view by examining the looting of Mali’s cultural heritage.
Barbash, Ilisa, and Lucien Taylor, prods. and dirs. In and Out of Africa, 1992. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Media, 2004.
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Based on Christopher Steiner’s research, this short film focuses on African art merchant Gabei Baare and illuminates the multibillion dollar business of transcontinental commerce in artworks. Available for purchase online.
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Christie’s.
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One of two major auction houses selling African art (see also Sotheby’s in this section). Catalogues available online include object photos and sometimes expert commentary; database searches of objects from past sales are also available.
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McNaughton, Patrick R., ed. Special Issue: Protecting Mali’s Cultural Heritage. African Arts 28.4 (Autumn 1995).
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Contributions from three Malian archaeologists and several other scholars as well as a lawyer and a representative of the US Information Agency. Focuses on the serious issues of plunder and heritage in Mali. Available online by subscription.
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Schmidt, Peter R., and Roderick J. McIntosh, eds. Plundering Africa’s Past. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
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Eighteen essays by academicians and museum professionals examine the obliteration and theft of cultural heritage across Africa generally and specifically in Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia. Simultaneously an authoritative account and a plea for ethical interaction with the continent.
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Sotheby’s.
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One of two major auction houses selling African art (see also Christie’s). Catalogues available online include object photos and sometimes expert commentary; database searches of objects from past sales are also available.
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Steiner, Christopher Burghard. African Art in Transit. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
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Examines the commodification of African artworks as they enter the global system of commerce. Focuses on middlemen in the trade as crucial participants who create interest, help set value, and produce interpretations that travel with the art. Economic value and exchange are emphasized.
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