During the early 1900s, the aesthetics of traditional African sculpture became a powerful influence among European artists who formed an avant-garde in the development of modern art. In France, Henri Matisse , Pablo Picasso , and their School of Paris friends blended the highly stylized treatment of the human figure in African sculptures with painting styles derived from the post-Impressionist works of Cézanne and Gauguin . The resulting pictorial flatness, vivid color palette, and fragmented Cubist shapes helped to define early modernism. While these artists knew nothing of the original meaning and function of the West and Central African sculptures they encountered, they instantly recognized the spiritual aspect of the…

These are common throughout Africa. The first mask is from the Suka people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Covering the dancer’s entire head and resting on his shoulders, it is very rare that African helmet masks would be used for protection in fighting. The second is a Sowei for the women’s Sande Society in Sierra Lione. We posted one called “Sande Society mask for women only” July 16, 2019. You can access it easily. Last is a Lipiko, a mask that is still greatly used in both Mozambique and Tanzania. You can find several on this site. These last two helmet masks are very popular with collectors. There are…

Crest masks sit over the top of the head. Visualize a helmet mask that is way too small. They can be found with the costumes of several tribes in a number of different regions. Two live in southeastern Nigeria and western Cameroon and produce a distinctive types of crests or helmet masks carved from wood and oftencovered with animal skin, possibly from an antelope. With or without the leather, these two masks get a lot of attention. Both portray the human head with a high degree of naturalism. They have expressive facial features, intricate linear tattoo patterns, complex spiral horn coiffures, and feather and fiber ornaments. They would have been…

The many tribes living on the continent of Africa use an amazing number of different masks. MasksoftheWorld.com and our book both have way more African masks than any other kind. However there is one subcategory that doesn’t show up in catalogs and collections very often. That would be the ones that have two, three or four faces on the same mask. Obviously they are harder and more costly to make, and can be difficult to display. Using Google you can find them easily. Collectors should try to own at least one each that are well made and affordable (reproductions). The first shown on this blog is a reproduction of a…