Course Content
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Lesson Plans
Art History ©1999
by Marilyn Stokstad
Focus Lesson 22
Chapter 13: "Art of Ancient Africa"
Chapter 25: "Art of Africa in the Modern Era"
AP* Course Description
- Non-European Artistic Traditions
Key Components
- Instructor's Resource Manual with Tests, Vol. I: pp. 41–42, 71–72, 160–164, 223
- Study Guide, Vol. I: pp. 109–111
- Instructor's Resource Manual with Tests, Vol. II: pp. 28–30, 75, 116–121, 187–188
- Study Guide, Vol. II: pp. 76–80
Key Web Sites
Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Check the Online Companion Web site for updated information and links to other sites.
Key Words and Terms
- terra cotta
- naturalistic
- scarification
- idealized
- mosques
- adobe
- toron
- battered
- dressed stone
- monolith
- finial
- abstract
- kente
- warp
- weft
- motif
Suggested Pacing
Allow a week or less for this chapter. However, it would be useful to check the College Board Web site early in the school year to determine what the topics will be that year for the 30-minute essay question that requires the inclusion of non-European examples in the response.
Test Strategy
The AP* test often asks students to compare and contrast African art with the twentieth-century European art it influenced, such as the paintings of Pablo Picasso. Students should study the links between "primitive" and modern art styles.
Key Concepts
- Patronage
It was not unusual in African cultures for a wealthy patron to commission a work of art from a renowned craftsperson from another village or city. The view that African art was made only by local villagers for immediate use in their own communities is false. - Religion and ritual
Prior to the twentieth century, most African art objects were made to be used in a ritual or religious ceremony of some kind. Some sculptures were made to represent deities, but important gods were infrequently shown because they were considered too distant from human affairs. For example, Olodumare, chief god of the Yoruba pantheon, is never represented directly, but his eight offspring, the orisha, were often sculpted.
Summing Up Student Understanding
The Instructor's Resource Manual suggests the following topic for a writing assignment:
Ancient African artists worked with a variety of materials and techniques to produce sculpture, pottery, and architecture. Select three materials and describe how each was adapted by the artist to create a strong portrait, symbolic form, or building consistent with their ideals of kingship or religion.
This topic can be expanded by asking students to discuss the technological ability of African artists in relation to artists working elsewhere in the world during the same period. The African cultures were frequently very advanced in their metallurgy, defying stereotypical views of African art as "primitive." In many cases, African sculptors were also remarkable in their ability to create highly naturalistic portraits.