| Description |
1 online resource (248 pages) |
| Contents |
Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; Preface; List of plates; List of figures; Acknowledgements; CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION; African art, arts of Africa; Art and its history; African geography; The dawn of art in Africa; The oikoumene; The regional traditions; West Africa; Central Africa; East Africa and southern Africa; The study of African art; CHAPTER 2: IDENTIFICATION; Labels, objects and documents; The work itself: description; Forgeries and their ilk; Author and place of origin; Dating; Physical dating; Catalogues; CHAPTER 3: SOCIETY, THE MOTHER OF ART |
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Object and societyUse; Patronage; Specific social context; Artists and workshops; Function; Documentation of social context; CHAPTER 4: MEDIA AND TECHNIQUES; Architecture; Additive sculpture: metalworking; Additive sculpture: clays and related media; Subtractive sculpture: wood; Subtractive sculpture: ivory, stone; Mixed media; Painting and drawing; Textiles and other fabrics; Ornamenting the body: scarification, painting; Media, techniques and the history of art; CHAPTER 5: STYLE; Conventions; Morphological analysis; Atelier and attribution; Stylistic sedation; Shape in time |
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CHAPTER 6: THE INTERPRETATION OF ICONSIcon and concept; Theme and motif; Interpretation; Art language; The complexity of meaning; Decoration: art without a statement; Theme and motif in history; CHAPTER 7: CULTURE AND ART; The visual arts compared; Visual and performing arts; Repertoire and culture; Aesthetics; Dynamics of art and culture; CHAPTER 8: THE CREATIVE PROCESS; The artist as creator; Originality; Replications; Drift; Prime works; Creativity, social and cultural change; CHAPTER 9: THE CREATIVE PROCESS: FOREIGN INPUTS; Diffusion: the means; Demand for foreign works of art |
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DistributionsReconstructing diffusion; Assessing the evidence; CHAPTER 10: WIDER PERSPECTIVES; Formal frameworks; Framework by art area; Tree models: Nigeria from Nok to Yoruba; Western Nigerian style relationships; An operational model: streams of tradition; The failure of formal frameworks; CHAPTER 11: ART IN HISTORY; Stone mansions at Lamu in the eighteenth century; Art objects as sources; Art in economic and social history; Art and intellectual history; The relevance of art to history; References and further reading; Index |
| Summary |
This is a pioneering introduction to a subject that is still at an early srage of academic development. It aims to provide the reader with a systematic method for the historical understanding of African art. Professor Vansina considers the medium, technique, style and meaning of art objects and examines the creative process through which they come into being. Numerous photographs and drawings illustrate his arguments, and help to explain the changes that have taken place |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Art, African.
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ART -- History -- General.
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Art, African
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9781317869030 |
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1317869036 |
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