ESSENCE of the SPIRIT - Behnke • Doherty Gallery

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ESSENCE
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of the
SPIRIT
The Influence of Primitive Art on 20 th Century Modernism
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It would be a gross exaggeration to say that 20th Century
Modernism would not have happened without African
Art. Many of the intellectual currents leading to the rejection
of the traditions of Western Realism codified in the
Renaissance were already in place. But it is certainly
not an exaggeration to say that the art of Africa had a
profound impact on the speed,timing and direction
of that radical transformation. M
odernism certainly begins with Picasso. His Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon, painted in 1907, hit the art
world like a tsunami, and African masks
provided the foundation for his radical
departure. The cubists were suddenly freed
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Picasso and many of his contemporaries
immediately began to collect these works. Picasso did not collect in the modern
sense of trying to acquire “the best of its
kind”. Rather, he sought out pieces whose
individual elements spoke to him. For
of slavish homage to the realism prevailing
Picasso, African masks provided a clear
ning of the 20th century possessed many
to African art - spirituality, a foursquare
in art” which he believed had been lost in
surfaces, restrained abstraction, and styl-
in Paris salons. The elements common
frontal perspective, symmetry (and the
road back to “the magical power inherent
Western culture, a reconnection to
characteristics of European taste: polished
ized realism. Dan and Fang masks and
intentional distortion thereof ), frugality
expressive and spiritual forces. Senufo figures come to mind. It was only
tion suddenly became part of the Western
The fascination and study of African art
them had succeeded in radically altering
of gesture, and extreme variation in proporartistic vocabulary. The focus of the artist
became the creation of conceptual and
stylized emotion rather than the mere
rendering of visual perception. Why did this happen then and why did it
happen in Paris? The colonization of West
Africa by the French in the second half
of the 19th century resulted in a sudden
influx of African art into Paris. The opening
of the Musee d’Ethnographie du Tracadero
was shared by the other prominent artists
at the right time. Maybe African art
and more extreme works such as Kifwebe
wouldn’t have had the same impact if it
African art continues uninterrupted
African art was truly a two way street.
earlier or fifty years later. But there is
through the works of Modigliani, Paul
Klee, Giacometti, Henry Moore, Max
masks became desirable. The influence of
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he exposure to African art didn’t Weber, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst and
suddenly alter Western artistic and inferential influences, you could argue
and nurtured changes and impulses that
Henry Moore. Indeed, in its subconscious
that African art has had a profound effect
on virtually every major artist of the
20th century. ism” made this art accessible to the general
It is interesting to note that the African art
public, including artists. Western taste and sensibilities that rougher
most prized in Europe during the begin-
sensibilities. Rather, it reinforced
were already occurring. Nor did the
cubist and modernist painters “plagiarize”
the art of Africa: they were freed by it
and eagerly embraced its fundamental
vocabulary. Perhaps French colonialism
in Africa just happened to come along
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The influence of
African art continues
uninterrupted through the
works of Modigliani
Paul Klee, Giacometti,
Henry Moore,
Max Weber, Alexander
Calder, Max Ernst and Henry Moore.
of the time: Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck,
Braque, and Brancusi. The influence of
in 1882 and the establishment of private
dealers specializing in African “Primitiv-
after the cubists and those who followed
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had become widely available fifty years
no denying that Western art in the 20th
century could not possibly have evolved
in quite the same way without it. And there is equally no denying that the
tribal art of Africa fits very comfortably
along side of 20th Century Moderism and
that one enriches the appreciation of the
other. Great tribal art - like all great art
- transcends the maker and his locale and
speaks to something universal in all of us 10
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ESSENCE
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Fang Ngil Society Mask
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Gabon, 26” x 9” x 6”
Pablo Picasso
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of the S P I R I T
Kifwebe Mask
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Songye, Congo
14” x 8” x 9”
Nude with Raised Arms
The Dancer of Avignon (1907)
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Padung-Padung Earrings
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Lwalwa Mask
Congo, 11” x 7” x 4”
Karo Batak, North Sumatra
6 1/2” x 6 1/2”
Private Collection
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Mama Buffalo Crest Mask
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Nigeria, 17” x 10” x 4”
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Lwalwa Mask
Congo, 11” x 7” x 5”
Fang Ngil Society Mask
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Max Ernst
Head of a Man (1947)
Private Collection, Paris
Pablo Picasso
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Chi Wara Head Crest
Bambara, Mali
33” x 3” x 10”
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Nyamwezi
Gardian Statue
Tanzania, 58”h
Dan Komo Society
Bird Mask
Ivory Coast, 15” x 6” x 7”
6 G r e e n H i l l Wa s h i n g t o n D e p o t , C T 0 6 7 9 4
Friday 12 – 5
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Les Demoiselles
d’ Avignon detail
(1907) MOMA, NYC
Gabon, 25” x 9” x 6”
860.868.1655
Saturday 11 – 5
b e h n k e d o h e r t y g a l l e r y. c o m
Sunday 12 – 4