FINE EWE TEXTILE EASTERN GHANA OR TOGO, EARLY... Lot 20

FINE EWE TEXTILE EASTERN GHANA OR TOGO, EARLY 20TH CENTURY strip woven cloth, a graphic composition, formed of twenty strips with weft woven blocks of yellow, maroon and orange on a blue ground (190 x 127cm) Provenance: The Keir McGuinness Collection of African Textiles Note: It has long been noted that Western modernism was heavily influenced by African artistic traditions. Comparisons have often focused on Cubism’s links with African sculptural and architectural aesthetics. The wide-ranging traditions of African textiles and their influence on Western Modernism are less well known, yet no less significant. Ewe kente cloth offers complex patterns with colour and form expertly balanced to create enveloping compositions. The visual language feels familiar and can begin to recall the vivid abstract geometries of Western artists Paul Klee and Hans Hofmann. Both Klee and Hofmann were influenced by Cubism and the colour palettes of artists like Robert Delaunay and Matisse. In making these links to Western modernism the artists were in turn heavily indebted to the visual languages of African art and textiles, given that they had informed these avant-garde European movements so strongly. The varied aesthetics of African textiles continue to influence contemporary art globally. African American artist, Kehinde Wiley, draws on West African textile design in the patterned backdrops that encroach on his portraits of black sitters in an aristocratic style recalling Old Master paintings. British-Nigerian artist, Yinka Shonibare, uses the colonial legacy of Ankara fabric in his work to subvert Western art traditions and comment on globalisation and the construction of culture. Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui creates intricate cloth-like sculptures using thousands of shards of recycled aluminium bottle caps, which give the effect of shimmering patterned textiles whilst simultaneously embodying Western commercial influence in Africa. The appeal of African textiles for contemporary artists seems to be linked to their cyclical role in global commercial trade, which can serve to reflect experiences of diaspora communities and disrupt the linear history of Western modernism.