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Essay / How African Art Changed and Inspired European Art
In this essay, I would like to discuss how African art changed and inspired European art. African art is a beautiful and deeply interesting art, full of tradition and spirituality. Over time, this art has influenced many artists like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay It is a wonderful thing, but these artists could not depict the meaning and spirituality that comes from it. They adopted the techniques, use of colors and methods very well, but there was still a lack of traditions and beliefs. I will feature and analyze two different artists, Jean Michael Basquiat and Hank Willis Thomas, explaining the differences between African art and African art. influenced by European and American styles.The second part of this essay will explain the difference between African art produced by Africans and African works produced by Europeans.Akan peopleThis first sculpture is a good representation of fertility, In sculpture made of wood from the Asante family, fertility and children are very popular themes, the piece depicts a royal mother breastfeeding the child. Why a royal mother? The character is not an ordinary woman, she is a queen mother as she wears sandals and sits in state on formal occasions; an ordinary woman will be shown on her knees or without shoes. The Asante family is a long-standing clan dynasty ruling southern Ghana. The sculpture expresses not only education but also the concept of family and the continuity of a matrilineage through daughters since in the Asante tradition, the sole purpose of a woman's life was to have children. Chris Ofili. The Resurrection of Lazarus This work of art is very simple, almost superficial but at the same time full of rich tones, like black, red and green; the characters are almost illegible because this painting is very influenced by dance. The dance is an incarnation, just as the characters represented are very pretty and delicate; the irregular lines are very sinuous and can evoke a feeling of sensuality in the bodies. The choice of colors is very specific and interesting, the artist decided to choose five colors which in African art are very dominant, all these colors represent something. In this genre of art, red symbolized violence and sacrifice, the African artist chose red to represent the struggle they made for their independence, and can sometimes also be used to give a feeling of fertility and of life. Black can be seen as death and darkness, but in other countries like Kenya, it can symbolize prosperity as it is reminiscent of dark rain clouds. White represents eternal life and God. Yellow is prosperity and gold. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glenn Basquiat is one of the most naive painters of the very famous neo-expressionism artistic movement. His art seemed both simple and complicated. A first impression will make you think that his style is almost childish for the use of very bright colors and unrealistic figures, but this is not the case. It’s about disparate traditions, practices, and styles creating a visual collage. between Afro-Caribbean heritage and urban origins. His work is an example of how American artists of the 1980s were able to reintroduce the human figure into their work after the widespread success of minimalism and conceptualism, thus establishing a dialogue with the more distant tradition of the 1950s Summary Expressionism. The artist appropriates Africa by taking bones,.