Primitivism: From Europe to Africa and Back Again

Is Jean-Loup Amselle correct in arguing that primitivism “lies at the core of postmodernity”? This seminar examines the legacy of several generations of European “primitivism” for contemporary artistic practice in Africa. For example, we will closely analyze Picasso’s relationship with African art but also how artists and critics in Senegal, Congo, and Tanzania have responded to Picasso. Case studies include: Gauguin; Carl Einstein; Kandinsky & Russian primitivism; blackface minstrelsy as it travels from the U.S. to Ghana; Leni Riefenstahl; Senegalese Negritude; and a selection of prominent exhibitions. The seminar will also include tours of the Chaim Gross Foundation and a new Metropolitan exhibition, “African Art, New York, and the Avant Garde.” Reading knowledge of French desirable. [Interested students from outside the Department of Art History & Archaeology should contact the professor directly.]