Although Charlemagne and Saint Louis had already developed an appreciation for exotic objects, one would have to wait until the Renaissance and essentially until the colonization of Francophone Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries for African art to become known and appreciated in the Western world. Perceptions of Africans and their art were revolutionized during the first decade of the 20th century when artists and writers discovered the different ethnic groups and the significance of their art. This course will follow the journeys of Matisse, Marcel Griaule and Michel Leiris as they disprove the stereotypes of Francophone Africa by reconstituting a new vision of Africans through their art.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, discussions, slide presentations, site visits
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: French
Required work and form of assessment:
Attendance and participation (20%), oral presentation (30%), midterm in the form of a ten-page report on a visit to an African art gallery (20%), and final exam (30%).
Students will be asked to visit local art galleries that display African art. They will also be encouraged to study, individually or in small groups, an object of African art (mask, sculpture, textile, weapon, etc.) and will be asked to make an oral presentation to the class.
content:
I. From Dakar to Djibouti: tracing the paths of Marcel Griaule and Michel Leiris
• Introduction to African geography and ethnologies
• Brief history of colonization, including the social and religious consequences during this period and their effect on art.
• Representation of rites of passage (circumcision, initiation, engagement, marriage, death) in art.
Arts et peuples de l’Afrique noire, Delange et Leiris. (1967)
• The ethnological expedition
L’Afrique fantôme, Michel Leiris. (1981)
The expedition: characteristics of the primary ethnic peoples and the significance of their paintings and sculptures.
• Mali: the Bambara and the Dogon
• Benin: the Yorouba
• Cameroun: the Bamum and Bamileke
• Gabon: the Kota and Fang
• Congo: the Kongo, Songyé, Yaka and Kuba
Excerpts from Les arts de l’Afrique noire, J. Laude. (1990)
*Visit to the Musée National des Arts Africains et Océaniens and the Fondation Dapper
The “Fauvists” discover Africa
Painting
• The discovery of African art by Matisse and the diffusion of the newfound style among the “Fauvists” Examples: works by Vlaminc, Derain, Matisse, Picasso
Sculpture
• Brancusi’s Adam et Eve and Chimère: a respect for African rhythms, materials and bold forms
• Recognizing the refined lines and linears of Baoulé art in Modigliani’s sculptures
Le Primitivisme dans l’art du XXème siècle, W. Rubin. (1987)
Required readings:
Delange, Jean and Michel Leiris. Arts et peuples de l’Afrique noire. Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Noire, 1984.
Laude, Jean. Les arts de l’Afrique Noire. Paris: Livre de Poche, 1990.
Leiris, Michel. L’Afrique fantôme. Paris: Gallimard, 1981.
Rubin, William. Le primitivisme dans l’art du Xxème siècle. Paris: Flammarion, 1987.
Recommended readings:
Basin, Marie-Louise. Introduction aux arts de l’Afrique Noire. Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Noire, 1984. Goldwater, Robert. Le primitivisme dans l’art moderne. Paris: PUF sociologie d’aujourd’hui, 1988. Laude, Jean. La peinture française (1905-1914) et l’art nègre. Paris: Klincksiek, 1968.
Although Charlemagne and Saint Louis had already developed an appreciation for exotic objects, one would have to wait until the Renaissance and essentially until the colonization of Francophone Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries for African art to become known and appreciated in the Western world. Perceptions of Africans and their art were revolutionized during the first decade of the 20th century when artists and writers discovered the different ethnic groups and the significance of their art. This course will follow the journeys of Matisse, Marcel Griaule and Michel Leiris as they disprove the stereotypes of Francophone Africa by reconstituting a new vision of Africans through their art.
Lectures, discussions, slide presentations, site visits
LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: French
Attendance and participation (20%), oral presentation (30%), midterm in the form of a ten-page report on a visit to an African art gallery (20%), and final exam (30%).
Students will be asked to visit local art galleries that display African art. They will also be encouraged to study, individually or in small groups, an object of African art (mask, sculpture, textile, weapon, etc.) and will be asked to make an oral presentation to the class.
I. From Dakar to Djibouti: tracing the paths of Marcel Griaule and Michel Leiris
• Introduction to African geography and ethnologies
• Brief history of colonization, including the social and religious consequences during this period and their effect on art.
• Representation of rites of passage (circumcision, initiation, engagement, marriage, death) in art.
Arts et peuples de l’Afrique noire, Delange et Leiris. (1967)
• The ethnological expedition
L’Afrique fantôme, Michel Leiris. (1981)
The expedition: characteristics of the primary ethnic peoples and the significance of their paintings and sculptures.
• Mali: the Bambara and the Dogon
• Benin: the Yorouba
• Cameroun: the Bamum and Bamileke
• Gabon: the Kota and Fang
• Congo: the Kongo, Songyé, Yaka and Kuba
Excerpts from Les arts de l’Afrique noire, J. Laude. (1990)
*Visit to the Musée National des Arts Africains et Océaniens and the Fondation Dapper
The “Fauvists” discover Africa
Painting
• The discovery of African art by Matisse and the diffusion of the newfound style among the “Fauvists” Examples: works by Vlaminc, Derain, Matisse, Picasso
Sculpture
• Brancusi’s Adam et Eve and Chimère: a respect for African rhythms, materials and bold forms
• Recognizing the refined lines and linears of Baoulé art in Modigliani’s sculptures
Le Primitivisme dans l’art du XXème siècle, W. Rubin. (1987)
Delange, Jean and Michel Leiris. Arts et peuples de l’Afrique noire. Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Noire, 1984.
Laude, Jean. Les arts de l’Afrique Noire. Paris: Livre de Poche, 1990.
Leiris, Michel. L’Afrique fantôme. Paris: Gallimard, 1981.
Rubin, William. Le primitivisme dans l’art du Xxème siècle. Paris: Flammarion, 1987.
Basin, Marie-Louise. Introduction aux arts de l’Afrique Noire. Arnouville: Arts d’Afrique Noire, 1984. Goldwater, Robert. Le primitivisme dans l’art moderne. Paris: PUF sociologie d’aujourd’hui, 1988. Laude, Jean. La peinture française (1905-1914) et l’art nègre. Paris: Klincksiek, 1968.