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Picasso 'failed to acknowledge his debt to African Art'by Mary Corrigall February 12, 2006 Edition 1 found at sundayindependent.co.za Emphasising an association between Pablo Picasso's works and the art of Africa, as the Standard Bank exhibition does, not only highlights the tenuous relationship between the two but might also have the artist rolling in his grave. While even the untrained eye can detect a strong connection between Picasso's reduced forms and so-called primitive African sculpture, the artist never openly acknowledged African art as an influence. In fact, as late as the 1960s, Picasso is known to have said he had not even set eyes on African art. Why did Picasso lie? By admitting that African artistic principles had inspired his vision would have been tantamount to rejecting one of the major tenets of modernism: namely forging a mode of expression that is independent of the past. It would also mean that his art was not autonomous from the socio-political context of his era, another faux pas for the aspiring modernist. Studies of Faces (1907) offers conclusive proof that not only did Picasso view African art but that it had a profound effect on his consciousness. While this piece is not a finished work, it testifies to Picasso's fascination with the form, style and expression of the stereotypical African mask. Seated Nude (1908), which he painted almost a year later, is a carbon copy of an African statue. Not only is the figure static but its stance and symmetry recall West African wood figurines. A work such as this begs the question: where does appropriation end and imitation begin? While William Rubin, an art historian, has argued that Picasso's analytic Cubist style could not have drawn influence from African statuettes because he was not creating sculptures, the artist's series of Standing Nude with Raised Arm (1908) undoubtedly reveals the manner in which Picasso made an attempt to translate or capture the three- dimensional values inherent to sculpture using a one-dimensional medium. The absence of Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon from the exhibition is starkly felt. In the context of an exhibition designed to foster a close relationship between Picasso and traditional African art-making, the absence of this seminal work is incomprehensible. Demoiselles d'Avignon plays a vital role in substantiating or refuting the African influence on Cubism, which is said to have kick-started modernism. The curators should have at least displayed a copy of Demoiselles d'Avignon for visitors, especially as there are two studies for Demoiselles, namely Head and Shoulders of a Woman, on display. For these studies, and the others that are on exhibit to be appreciated, surely it is necessary for the public to be able to see the completed works that they refer to? Those looking to trace the African influence on Cubism will have to make do with Three Figures under a Tree (1907), the most significant work on display. This artwork appears to be closely related to Three Women (1908), incidentally also not part of this exhibition, which in its final finished form (Picasso painted 26 versions) showed the artist's transition from invoking the primitive to embracing Braque's Cézannesque-inspired Cubism. Three Figures under a Tree, like earlier versions of Three Women, is strongly marked by what is termed as Picasso's "African style". There are brash value contrasts; striation patterns fill the figures, conjuring the scarification found on African masks; the painting exudes energy; and the features of his three subjects are simplified. What is also significant about this work is that it reveals Picasso's understanding of "the primitive". His subjects are almost indistinguishable from the tree, suggesting oneness with nature, and not only do they lack human qualities but their appearance is grotesque. As Patricia Leighton, the art historian and critic, has suggested in The White Peril and L'Art Negre (Art Bulletin), while Picasso and his contemporaries perceived themselves to be anti-colonialist, their works reflected homogenised views of the "dark continent". The Parisienne and the Exotic Figures (autumn 1906) substantiates Leighton's observation. The left-hand side of this drawing portrays the quintessential European lady at the turn of the century; a flowing coat and scarf cover her body, a feathered hat adds an air of sophistication to her appearance; and in the background, the Eiffel Tower and a Ferris wheel are depicted, grounding her in a "civilised" environment. By contrast, the other side of the drawing portrays the "exotic": the woman is naked, her physical form distorted and the physical features that make her African are enlarged for effect, making her appear awkward and unsightly. The background does not suggest that she is rooted in any context. In other words; she has no purpose, she exists in a vacuum. Picasso's juxtaposition of the European and the African in this work exposes his inherent urge to typecast "the other", which conforms in every way to colonialist rhetoric. At the preview of the exhibition, the co-curator, Marilyn Martin, suggested that Picasso did a service to African artists by creating an awareness of their art in Europe. I propose that he did them a disservice; aside from refusing to acknowledge his source of inspiration, he played a pivotal role in perpetuating negative stereotypes of the African while displaying a lack of understanding of the art he sought to emulate. The display of traditional African works in this exhibition does little to reposition African art as a major player in the modernist movement. The display serves only as a painful reminder of how insignificant the African artist was perceived to be by the Europeans. Picasso and Africa is on at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg until March 19 and will be on exhibit at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town from April 13 to May 21 related: 10 Feb 2006 ... Standard Bank and French government to present Picasso and Africa in 2006 ... Picasso and Africa will be exhibited at the Standard Bank ... |
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