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African Masks:

By Franco Monti

African Masks:

By Franco Monti

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Description
This 1969 hardback book with dustjacket, 'African Masks' by Franco Monti was translated from the Italian original 'Le Maschere Africane' by Andrew Hale. It contains 69 plates in full colour. To Western eyes, African masks have a sinister secret life of their own. The astonishing vigour of the carving and the often highly coloured decoration add to the feeling that these masks are more than just tribal regalia. In fact, a mask does not represent an emotion: it IS that emotion. As the author says, 'it is not the portrait of a man who fears, who fights, or who dies, but it is Fear, War, Death'. This fascinating book reveals, perhaps for the first time to the ordinary reader, the background of the Negro artist and his place and function in the tribe. It shows how the mask, part of a dance costume, is linked via the public ceremonial life of the tribe to the most secret religious customs. The masks are extremely varied in style, ranging from the child-like primitiveness of some from the Upper Volta to the serene sophistication of a Benin ivory. This confusing variety is carefully organised both in Franco Monti's stex and in the splendid illustrations, with their full accompanying notes, so that the reader can follow without difficulty the background to an art which has had so much influencen on Western painting and sculpture
Product details
Number of Pages:
158
Publication Date:
1969
Publisher:
Hamlyn
Languages:
Published: English, Original: Italian
ISBN10:
0814803482
Weight:
454 g
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