How African Art Influenced European Art
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| Picasso and his Cubist paintings |
European artists such as Vlaminck, Derain, Picasso, and Modigliani were influenced by African art forms. The recognition of the aesthetic value of African sculpture by the European began in about 1905.
And the Interest in the arts of Africa keeps flourishing, and many modern Western artists, such as those mentioned above, have rediscovered the enduring qualities of African art.
In the latter part of the 20th century, African art has come to be appreciated for its intrinsic aesthetic value as well as continuing to be a source of inspiration for the work of Western artists.
Read below, quotes from Picasso:
"Everybody always talks about the influences that the Negroes had on me. What can I do? We all of us loved fetishes. Van Gogh once said, ‘Japanese art—we all had that in common.’ For us it’s the Negroes.... When I went to the old Trocadero, it was disgusting. The Flea Market. The smell. I was alone. I wanted to get away. But [ didn’t leave. I stayed. I stayed. I understood that it was very important: something was happening to me, right? The masks weren’t just like any other pieces of sculpture. Not at all. They were magic things...
