Picasso's African Period
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African influenced period of Pablo Picasso, which followed his Blue Period and Rose Period. This period has also occasionally been called the Negro Period or Black Period.
Between 1907 and 1909 Picasso painted in a style which was strongly influenced by African sculpture. After painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Picasso began painting in a style influenced by the two figures on the right side of the painting, which were based on African art. Although the painting is seen as the first Cubist work, before beginning the Cubist phase of his painting, he spent several years exploring African art. During this time the French empire was expanding into Africa, and African artifacts were being brought back to Paris museums. The press was abuzz with exaggerated stories of cannibalism and exotic tales about the African kingdom of Dahomey. Also talked about was the mistreatment of Africans in the Belgian Congo with Joseph Conrad's popular book Heart of Darkness. It was natural therefore in this climate of African interest that Picasso would look towards African artifacts as inspiration for some of his work. After viewing an ancient cave painting in France, Pablo Picasso stated that "We have learned nothing."
Picasso's African influenced period was followed with the style known as Analytic Cubism, which had also developed from Les Mademoiselle Mignonne's. Specifically Picasso's interested was sparked by Henri Matisse who showed him a mask from the Dan region of Africa. Scholars maintain that Matisse purchased this piece from Emile Heymenn's shop of non-western artifacts in Paris.
| Pablo Picasso works and periods |
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| Periods: Blue (1901–1904), Rose (1905–1907), African (1908–1909), Analytic cubism (1909–1912), Synthetic cubism (1912–1919) |
| List of works: 1889-1900, 1901-1910, 1911-1920, 1921-1930, 1931-1940, 1941-1950, 1951-1960, 1961-1970, 1971-1973 |
