The visual arts of Africa are characterized by enormous diversity, reflecting the variety of cultures, people, languages, and environments that comprise this giant continent. Striving to make organizational sense of a group of objects that includes the creative works of many unnamed artists, the cultural expressions of geographically distinct peoples, as well as the artistic visions of several different collectors, is a challenging task.

The desire to represent and celebrate the artistic diversity of Africa by illustrating works from every region was difficult to suppress, but would have been even more difficult to fulfill. Rather than searching for objects that would, at the most superficial level, constitute a continental survey of the richness of African artistry, the focus instead became the illumination of the cultural contexts, stylistic features, and symbolic power of the seemingly disparate works that Hurst Gallery was fortunate to have.

What emerged is African Art from Four Regions, a selection of objects that originate from the Atlantic coast in Liberia to the eastern forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The catalogue takes a geographic approach, grouping the objects by style regions. These regions, though not defined by political boundaries, are conceptually useful in understanding how art is created and employed in various ritual, social, and political contexts. The style regions are generalizations that acknowledge, and in fact encourage exceptions to their definitions. These exceptions invite discussion and comparison, and further our understanding of how art is created and used among various African peoples.

The Western Sudan, the dry savanna that stretches from the southern Sahara to the forests of the Guinea Coast, consists largely of agricultural, village-based societies with strong sculptural traditions. These are dominated by Mande and Voltaic language-speaking peoples, such as the Dogon, Bamana, and Senufo. Sculpture of the Western Sudan may be characterized by carved wooden elongated figures and horizontal helmet masks that employ simple geometric shapes, zoomorphic imagery, and make bold use of positive and negative space. Many artists of this region belong to endogamous hereditary groups believed to possess specialized technical and spiritual knowledge. Men are blacksmiths and woodcarvers, and women are potters; both take material from the earth and transform it by fire. Their artistic products are essential aspects of agricultural rituals, and are commissioned in the service of graded initiation societies that govern life in the Western Sudan.

The art styles of the Guinea Coast, comprising coastal West Africa from Guinea to Benin, contrast with those of the Western Sudan by having in general a smooth, polished, black surface. Masks and sculpture tend to exhibit greater naturalism, more rounded forms, and precise execution of details, as evidenced by the works of the Dan, Guro, Baule, and Asante. Especially in areas of the Western Guinea Coast, men’s and women’s initiation societies are the principle patrons of the arts. Masquerades for men’s Poro and women’s Sande societies facilitate life cycle rituals and mark the transition of children to adult members of the community. Masks of this region also function as agents of social control, helping to maintain the safety and well being of the community through arbitrating disputes, protecting against adversities, and providing entertainment at celebrations. Figural sculpture tends to be individually owned and commissioned, rather than controlled by associations or societies.

The region of Equatorial Africa encompasses the area south of the Cameroon Grassfields, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and northern Republic of the Congo. The objects in this collection represent the works of peoples of the Western forests: the Fang, Kota, and related groups. In addition to elegantly designed personal objects such as stools, weapons, and utensils, ceremonial sculpture of this region serves as protection for ancestral relics, and figures in masquerades and rituals to exert social control, facilitate initiation, and guide funerary rituals. Characterized by abstract, often flattened forms, sculpture from Equatorial Africa profoundly influenced European artists, who particularly admired and collected art from this region in the early twentieth century.

The expanse of the Congo River basin comprising Central Africa is exceedingly diverse, defying stylistic generalization. Art is produced by small-scale societies as well as large centralized kingdoms. This collection includes art of the Yaka, Pende, Kuba, Chokwe, and Lega peoples, and reaches north and east to include an initiation mask of the Ndaaka or related peoples of the Ituri forest in Democratic Republic of the Congo (cat. 46). These objects of various forms and materials include power figures that are activated by the application of magical substances and actions; luxurious prestige objects crafted with meticulous detail that serve utilitarian purposes and connote insignia of rank or office; and masks and sculpture for both life-cycle initiation and social satire.

While the objects illustrated here provide only a glimpse into the profusion of African art types and styles, together they demonstrate strength of form and design, profound cultural resonance, and the skill and ingenuity of African artists. Transcending locations, contexts, and meanings over time, these objects embody potent visual power that continues to capture and inspire admirers and collectors the world over.

- NICOLE A. HAWKES