The Tribal Arts of Africa (Hardcover)

by Jean-Baptiste Bacquart (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
The layout is particularly interesting because it intersperses dramatic color photographs with small black-and-white photographs and text about the art, the tribes and the traditions. Written by the former head of the tribal arts department at Sotheby's, the book is an excellent introduction to African art created before 1920. -- USA Today, Deirdre Donahue, 3 December 1998

[A]nother seductive picture book, with one with a strong didactic intent....A handy reference indeed. -- Houston Chronicle, Patricia C. Johnson, 6 December 1998

Product Description
The marvelous achievements of black African artists are revealed and superbly portrayed in this book. The earliest pieces date from the beginning of the first millennium, the most recent from the early twentieth century before the commercial production of art for the tourist trade. All were made by Africans for their own use. It was European imperial expansionism in the nineteenth century that provided the background for public display of tribal objects in Berlin's Museum fr Vlkerkunde or Paris's Muse d'Ethnographie. The impetus provided by Braque and Picasso, Derain and Vlaminck focused new attention on the artistic value of the African achievement. In 1911 Paul Guillaume opened the first gallery in Paris concentrating on black African art; between the wars exhibitions in New York, Paris, and Antwerp helped to make African art fashionable. The end of colonialism, the search for roots, and ever-increasing research has continued to fuel the interest in an art whose full riches are now revealed. The brilliant young French expert, Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, has divided Africa south of the Sahara into forty-nine cultural areas. Each section studies the most important tribe within the area, surveying its social and political structures as well as its artistic production. The art is analyzed according to type--in most instances masks, statues, and everyday objects such as utensils, furniture, and jewelry. Where appropriate, further information on artistically related tribes is provided. Each section contains its own bibliography and--above all--both lavishly presented color photographs of all the major object types and documentary black-and-white illustrations. A detailed reference section, containing information on key collectors, collections open to the public, and a glossary, completes an invaluable publication that is unique in any language in presenting the entire range of black African art in accessible form.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; illustrated edition edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500018707
• ISBN-13: 978-0500018705
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,204,687 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but AFRICAN MASKS is a better book on this subject, September 25, 2004

By	Oksana (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tribal Arts of Africa (Paperback)

AFRICAN MASKS by Iris Hahner-Herzog is a superior book because the color plates are more numerous, larger and printed with greater resolution. Some of the photos in Tribal Arts, especially the smaller black & white ones, were difficult to read about because the plates were scattered across the pages in no apparent relation to their descriptions in the text. What's worse is, some had no descriptions at all and some art was referred to where there were no photos. While trying to indentify a particular mask that I owned, I found I had to skim the text backwards, to try to find the description of a photo...since photos that were on the righthand page were described earlier in the text (on the lefthand page). Whomever edited this book seemed to have no regard for a visually organized presentation.

The CONTENTS were divided regionally and then sub-dived by tribes in those regions, this was informative and helpful, especially if one is trying to identify a masks (and you know the region by not the tribe). This IS a very good book for someone who is a collector or very interested in the subject, but if you are just buying ONE book on this subject, IMO, AFRICAN MAKSKS is the better book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An encyclopaedic work, May 13, 2004

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Tribal Arts of Africa (Paperback)

This beautiful book on the art of Africa south of the Sahara explores 49 cultural areas as regards their artistic production and their political and social structures. The 49 areas are broadly divided under sections for the coast of West Africa; inland West Africa; Nigeria and Cameroon; Gabon and Zaire; and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Each section has its own bibliography. The book includes 865 illustrations of which a least 195 are full color photographs. There are also many maps of the areas under study. The reference section at the end encompasses a further bibliography, lists of major museums and major dealers in African art, a glossary and an index.

The book is a masterpiece that makes accessible the entire panoply of black African tribal arts from the first millennium to the end of the nineteenth century. It is an indispensable reference source for the serious collector and a beautiful encyclopaedia for any art lover.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly surprised, great value, August 7, 2005

By	S. Kelly (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Tribal Arts of Africa (Paperback)

My husband and I recently purchased a mask at an African and Caribbean festival. We loved the mask, and it definitely found its home over our fireplace. However, the vendor only could tell us that the mask was from Mali. With a desire to learn about our mask (which sports some unusual features) I decided to purchase a book, with no idea whether or not information about my mask would be included. I browsed on Amazon and located this book.

I was very pleasantly surprised, not only was our mask in the book, but the book contained beautiful photos and histories of masks from every region in Africa. Although it is a paperback, it is sturdy, and the glossy photos are stunning. We will definitely use it, to guide us in future purchases.