Contemporary African Art from the Harmon Foundation

Introduction

The contemporary art of Africa eludes generalized description. Artists have utilized various mediums, from oils to silk screening, and methods varying from brass casting by the ancient lost wax process to welding tin cans and other metals into sculpture. Traditionalists like Lamidi Fakeye produce sculpture and wood carvings based on classical African designs. A larger group works in the more modern styles of cubism, expressionism, and surrealism, while others seek a purely personal style. Many African artists were trained at European and American schools; others feel that they can achieve truly African expression only in their native surroundings. In Nigeria, for example, the national artistic tradition is strong and pervasive, even though obscured by the effects of European colonialism and Christian and Moslem religious zeal. In many other countries, traditional art very nearly succumbed under these forces. Thus a contemporary artwork is classified as African purely on the basis of the artist's nationality, rather than according to a peculiar style, subject, purpose, or medium.

The Harmon Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation active from 1922 to 1967, helped foster an awareness of African art. Although its initial projects were funding parks and playgrounds and providing student loans, the foundation's flexible structure lent itself to support for a wide range of activities, including art. The foundation's interest in contemporary African art grew rather spontaneously. Its initial contact with Africa came through three series of motion pictures commissioned by the foundation in the 1930's on native life and tribal customs and the work of Christian missions in Africa. Although art was not selected as a focal point, the films depicted a culture built around folkcrafts; houses, furnishings, cooking utensils, and clothing were all handcrafted from local materials. Art, in a broad sense, had always been an integral part of African life. By the mid-1940s a few artists, aware of the films and the foundation's work with black American artists and anxious to create a market for their artworks in the United States, began sending their work to the New York offices. General interest was slow to develop. Connoisseurs of art seemed to see the African work not as serious, creative effort, but as sociological commentary on modern Africa. This view became particularly apparent in 1950, when the foundation had difficulty finding an established gallery for an exhibit by Ben Enwonwu, a leading Nigerian artist whose work had been successfully shown in England.

As a result of these early experiences, a strong relationship developed between the African artists, the foundation, and the American art community. More and more artists became aware of the foundation as a contact point and more frequently shipped artworks to the United States for exhibit and sale. The foundation became conscious of the substantial lack of appreciation for contemporary African art and of its own potential role in promoting intercultural understanding. By 1967 it was well established as a liaison between the artists and interested groups. With the cooperation of the Merton Simpson Gallery in New York and a few university galleries, it arranged several one-man shows and numerous general exhibits. After 6 years of research, it published "Africa's Contemporary Art and Artists", a descriptive compilation of artists in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the staff collected black and white prints and color slides of nearly 2,500 artworks. The Harmon Foundation's role had mushroomed from a latent, remote interest to leadership in the field of contemporary African art.

When the foundation ended its activities in 1967, it donated to the National Archives its entire collection of motion pictures, filmstrips, color slides, and black and white prints and negatives on a variety of subjects. The following selection, arranged alphabetically by name of artist, from the "Artworks by African Artists" series, is a representative sample of the work of some of the artists in the collection. An inclusive list of artists in this series is available upon request.

Many photographs from the Harmon Foundation are not listed in this leaflet. Separate inquiries about other photographs should be as specific as possible listing names, dates, places, events, and other details.