Royal Arts Of African Art

A group called the benin artists created a masterpiece that symbolizes royal authority and power. It’s a sculpture of 2 leopards designed as water vessels, used for when the oba washes his hands before ceremonies.

These beautiful figures are done in a special kind of work. A Hausa artisan talks about the making of the figures is, “done with clay and wax, and red metal[copper], and solder[zinc], and lead, and fire… Next it is set aside to cool, then the outside covering of clay is broken off” (Doc 7). This African culture wasn't the only cultural accomplishment in Africa; the Kingdom of Ghana reached a great feat in wealth from the Saharan gold and salt trade. An Arab scholar named Al-Bakri in 1067 described the kings county in Ghana as a, “domed pavilion around which stand ten horses with gold embroidered trappings.

On October 9, 2015 I went to the Smithsonian, National Museum of African Art along with attending the Million Man March down in Washington D.C. The experiences were wonderful and I was very excited to be at both events. While at the museum I took two tours one at 10 am that was led by a woman named Nkechi Obi. She talked about docent African Arts. The next one was shortly after at11 am that was led by a teen ambassador named Nicholas Stewart, who was very intelligent. He talked about numerous pieces throughout the museum that had some significance to younger minds so I found that very helpful. After the tour I spent some time down at the mall in DC in which faced the Capitol. This was the Million Man March that was a very popular event that brought out many people. I would describe both events as lectures that were powerful and time put to good use.

The main purpose of this paper is to describe the visual analysis of the artwork. This paper examines an Egyptian half nude portrait art which is taken from Metropolitan Museum of Art (Fig.1). The statue characterized both male and female seated figure with a Braid hair. In this essay, I will present a complete visual description of this artwork (its preservation, costume and iconography), and then I will compare it to another artwork which is chosen from Textbook that is Akhenaten and his Family (Fig. 2).

standing sculpture of King “Menkaure and Queen” is an illustration of Egyptian culture which represents their king and queen. Menkaure stands with his left leg extended forward as if at attention. This is the portrayal of a familiar Egyptian pose. While holding some unknown cylindrical objects with his clenched fists, the king’s arms are held stiff at his sides. As a symbol of his power, his stance looks assertive. This vigorous man is probably in his thirties, represented as quite mature. He has some well-developed arms, broad shoulders and with slender hips. The body has been carefully crafted to look lifelike. The only exceptions are the sharp edge of the shin bone in addition to the overemphasized knees, but it is common to all Egyptian

The curving eyebrows meet on the bridge of the nose and are accentuated by incised lines in a herringbone pattern.

During school right now, I am mostly focusing on two clubs that I’m involved in: the National Art Honor Society and the Super Smash Bros club. I focus on these clubs because art and video games are two of the biggest passions in my life. I was seven years old when I got my first console, and I was three when I first started drawing. Gaming and art have been a part of my life for a large majority of it, so it made sense when I found that I could translate these aspects of my life into a career. Parts of my life have gotten me to this decision, and it starts with my art.

Brass plaque named the “Oba of Benin with attendants” of the 16th century show some process where attendants provide shade for the king. Their fine clothing shows worked in patterns and colors. Figures of the smaller size were less important. They carried a ceremonial sword and the gift box.

In front where the two bodies touch, the Satyr’s open mouth and joyous expression are directly illuminated, and the Nymph’s arms, the left half side of her round face, her breasts, her glutes and both their legs are illuminated. The light highlights the curves of the Nymph’s small breast, her glutes where a dimple lays on the cheek, her legs which look textured and has various dark spots that look similar to cellulite. The darker shadows help illuminate both the light and the lighter shadows creating depth and emphasizing the naturalism of the body. Using the lighting of the sculpture, the emphasis on the details of the body; from the perfectly smooth skin, to the imperfections of the legs and the glutes, promotes the beauty of the natural body because unlike Greek and Roman sculptures of the body, this sculpture captures the naturalistic parts of the body, not perfectly flawless and all muscular and pert, but curved, smoothed and dimpled. The Nymph isn’t thin nor is she very muscular, she is curvy, she is imperfect but the Nymph has a joyous expression on her face that emphasizes her happiness with not only the event at hand; drinking with the Satyr, but her happiness with

The popularity of and the fascination with Egyptian Art come from the pyramids, mummies, and hieroglyphs. The theme of the exhibition is about racial types in Ancient Egyptian Art it will survey the various naturalistic facial features found in the non-royal sculptures. In contrast, the Royal portraits are extremely symbolic in representing human figures with the combination of human gods and animal forms that tend to portray idealized, conventional faces of Egypt. Utilizing objects from the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, this exhibit will display 25 portraits of nobleman, officials, and local individuals in order to hint at a variety of racial subdivision such as the Hykos, Nubian, Persian and Roman influence in the

Form of "afterlife insurance" in order to trick the soul into staying alive in the event of the body's destruction

This sculpture is of a women breast feeding her child. The face of the two people is elongated, as well as the breasts of the mother. This is common to all African Art because they wanted representation of what is being expressed. In this particular sculpture, a supernatural power is being called upon. The power has been asked to protect the mother and child, and to

This figure’s body is cropped, leaving the viewer with only its torso and head. While portions of this figure’s body are more humanoid than the previous, (a pronounced shoulder and breast ground the character) once we move up from these shoulders the body seems to break into geometric abstraction. A spiky neck extends and transforms into a sort of scaffolding to hold up the mask-face. This figure is also decorated with flowers and hair like protrusions, suggesting an almost ritualistic garb.

African art has played an important role in the culture of the world. The sculpture is the most common traditional culture expression for the African art. The different sculptures are shown by their local styles and they serve for the specific functions, such as religion. From some of these old art pieces, we figure out this kind of traditional culture expression already existed in the African for such a long time. In this paper, the art piece I am going to analyze is the Female Figure with Child and it made by Akan-Asante people. The Akan people of Ghana have been recognized for their various and attractive culture and it located in what are today Ivory Coast and the republic of Ghana in Western African. The Akan people are combined by different groups, such as the Anyi, Akawpim, Akyem, Aowin and Asante, and these people have their own dialect, but they share a lingua franca, which called Twi. The sculpture I choose could effectively reflect its own distinctive culture, because of the social connection reflect on the royalty, the comparison with other local art pieces, like Akuaba fertility dolls and its specific art form.

     Like African paintings, poetry, and woodcarvings, sculptures tell a tale and immortalize cultures and beliefs. Different artists have different styles (African Arts Information). Materials and styles differ from village to village. Most sculptors use green wood, copper, tin, zinc alloys, bronze, ivory, or terra cotta, a kind of earth ware. Most sculpture figures are believed to contain ancestor’s spirits. Others represent sacred ideas or events (Fetzer 106). Some objects are said to be magical and believed to have magical powers (African Arts). Africans carve figures, make masks, and decorate articles for ceremonies (Fetzer 106).