African Visual Arts from an Art Historical Perspective

Abstract

This overview assesses the study of sub-Saharan art by art historians in the United States, as a complement to the earlier examination by Paula Ben-Amos (1987) of African art studies from an anthropological perspective. Academic status for African art history, focused on sub-Saharan Africa, began in the 1950s, when a small group of scholars assigned style categories and broad social functions to works of West and Central African sculpture. With the expansion and development of the field, linked to the use of anthropological methods, the emphasis in research has shifted towards adopting multiple perspectives of analysis and seeking African categories in relation to varied artistic production. Nevertheless, study of sub-Saharan art has achieved only a marginal status in the disciplines of art history and anthropology. This essay examines the problems of these relationships, the types of changing scholarly activities that have characterized the field of sub-Saharan art, and considers options for the future.

As Máscaras De Dança Cokwe Na Perspectiva De Uma Estética Africana

“…No âmbito dos estudos académicos, os estudos sobre Estética africana são relativamente recentes. Na sua obra African Aesthetics (1986), Susan Vogel centra-se na estética e na sua precisão enquanto linguagem africana, apresentando exemplos detalhados de estéticas africanas; R. F. Thompson (1979), a partir da cultura Yoruba, define alguns princípios básicos para a definição de uma estética africana; enquanto D. Biebuyck (1983) e M. Adams (1989) se dedicam a abordagens da arte africana numa perspectiva histórica, B. Wastiau (2003) articula as questões do estilo e da etnicidade e W. MacGaffey (2000) interessa-se pelas relações entre a estética e a política em África.…”

Anthropologies of art

“…The marker 'anthropology of aesthetics' as referring to the anthropological study of qualitative senso-rial perceptions was first used in the title of a publication by Coote in 1992 (for references, see bibliography). For more on the involvement of especially North American art historians in the study of African art forms, see Adams (1989). 2.…”

African Meanings, Western Words

“…1. The two comprehensive studies most frequently cited are by Monni Adams, 1989 andPaula Ben-Amos, 1989. Footnote references generally are meant to be representative rather than definitive.…”