African Art

Ivory Head Carved in the 16th-century in Benin

No one seems to know exactly how old the art of African is.  We don't know where it started, how it grew, or how much it was influenced by other countries, We do know, however, that African art has developed from traditions as old as those European and Asiatic art.  Africa and its arts were once thought of being primitive.  But generations before, England, Frnce, and the United States had become great powers, Africa had known the rise and fall of many great kingdoms.  The organization, discipline, laws, and religions of these ancient kingdoms show that Africa has been civilized for many centuries.




The Beginnings of African Art

Although  it has not yet been proved, many scholars think that some of the rock paintings recently discovered in the Ahaggar Mountains of Algeria  and in southwest Libya may have been done by black Africans.  This area is north of the Sahara, but there is a theory that black once lived there and were driven to the south by Asians.  These paintings were probably done over 4,000 years ago.

We can be more certain of the origins of African art if we begin with the cave and rock paintings of the San (Bushmen) of South Africa.  These pleasant paintings depict mostly animals, for the San have always been great hunters.  In southwest Africa the San paintings depict human figures.  Strangely, the physical characteristics of the men can be easily recognized as European and Asiatic as well as African.