Some African objects had been collected by Europeans for centuries, and there had been industries producing some types, especially carvings in ivory, for European markets in some coastal regions. Between 1890 and 1918 the volume of objects greatly increased as Western colonial expansion in Africa led to the removal of many pieces of sub-Saharan African art that were subsequently brought to Europe and displayed.[1] These objects entered the collections of natural history museums, art museums (both encyclopedic and specialist) and private collections in Europe and the United States. About 90% of Africa's cultural heritage is believed to be located in Europe, according to French art historians.[2]
Initially mostly seen as illustrating the ethnology of different African cultures, appreciation of pieces as artworks grew during the 20th century. Only towards the end of the century was "modern" African art in fine art genres accepted as significant.[3]
- ^ Coombes, Annie E. (1997). Reinventing Africa : museums, material culture and popular imagination in late Victorian and Edwardian England (2nd pr ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300068905.
- ^ Owolabi, Tife (February 20, 2022). "Nigeria's looted Benin bronzes returned, more than a century later". www.reuters.com. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
- ^ Meier, Prita (2010). "Authenticity and ITS Modernist Discontents: The Colonial Encounter and African and Middle Eastern Art History". The Arab Studies Journal. 18 (1): 12–45. ISSN 1083-4753. JSTOR 27934077.
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