Did Picasso Steal from African Artists?: Exploring the Roots of Modern Art
Fang masks, Gabon, ca. 1906, Musée du Quai Branly. Amadeo Modigliani, Head, 1911–1912, Minneapolis Institute of Arts (public domain).
Introduction: A Question of Influence or Appropriation?
For more than a century, Pablo Picasso has been hailed as a revolutionary figure who changed the course of modern art. His development of Cubism, alongside Georges Braque, is often considered one of the most radical artistic breakthroughs of the 20th century. However, a closer look at his early work reveals a deep but often uncredited debt to African art, specifically the traditional masks and sculptures of Central and West Africa.
Did Picasso take inspiration from African art in an act of creative exchange, or did he appropriate its aesthetic innovations while erasing the African artists who pioneered them?
Picasso’s Encounter with African Art
In 1907, Picasso visited the Musée d’Ethnographie du Trocadéro in Paris, a museum dedicated to non-European artifacts, particularly those from Africa. The experience left a lasting impact on him. Later, he described feeling uneasy in the museum but admitted that the African masks had a transformative effect on his artistic thinking.
At the time, African artifacts were being collected and displayed in European museums under colonial rule, often without proper attribution to their creators. These pieces were viewed not as fine art but as anthropological artifacts. Yet, Picasso saw something more—a completely different way of representing the human form, one that rejected the European traditions of realism and perspective.
This influence would become most evident in one of his groundbreaking works: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
African Influences in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Perhaps the most striking example of Picasso’s engagement with African art is his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), a work that dramatically broke from European artistic conventions.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907. Pablo Picasso.
At first glance, the painting portrays five female figures, presumed to be prostitutes, arranged in a fractured, angular composition. Yet a closer look reveals two of the faces—those on the right—are almost direct adaptations of African masks, particularly those of the Fang and Dan peoples of Central and West Africa.
Mask-Like Features:
The faces of the two rightmost women in the painting exhibit sharp, geometric lines, elongated noses, and hollow, almond-shaped eyes, all key characteristics of African masks.
The distortion of natural human anatomy mimics the abstraction commonly seen in masks from the Fang people of Gabon and the Dan people of Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.
Rejection of Perspective and Naturalism:
Traditional European paintings of the time used perspective to create depth and naturalistic forms.
African masks, however, emphasize concept over realism, representing spiritual essence rather than anatomical accuracy.
Picasso embraced this abstraction, rejecting depth, proportion, and traditional perspective in favor of a flat, multi-angled approach, which became the foundation of Cubism.
Fragmentation of Form:
The women’s bodies are broken into sharp, angular planes, reminiscent of African sculptural techniques that simplify and exaggerate form to enhance symbolic power.
This technique later became a hallmark of Cubism, as Picasso and Braque deconstructed objects into geometric shapes to represent multiple viewpoints at once.
Emotional and Psychological Power:
African masks were not just decorative—they carried spiritual significance and were used in rituals.
Picasso’s application of their exaggerated, mask-like features to human figures in Les Demoiselles imbued his painting with a sense of mysticism, rawness, and emotional intensity unseen in Western portraiture at the time.
Thus, the African influence in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was not subtle—it was fundamental to Picasso’s radical departure from traditional art and directly led to the development of Cubism.
The Case for Cultural Appropriation
While Picasso acknowledged that African art influenced him, he rarely credited it as foundational to Cubism. Instead, he framed his innovations as a personal artistic breakthrough, distancing himself from the source of his inspiration.
At the same time, African artists who had been creating these bold, abstracted forms for centuries were largely ignored or dismissed by the Western art world. Their works were displayed in museums as curiosities rather than as art equal to the European canon.
This pattern of European and American artists borrowing from African traditions while erasing their origins has also played out in African-American artistic movements, where Black creators have pioneered jazz, blues, hip-hop, and contemporary visual arts, only to have their contributions absorbed into mainstream culture with little credit.
The Argument for Inspiration
Some art historians argue that Picasso’s engagement with African art was part of a long tradition of cross-cultural artistic exchange. Throughout history, artists have drawn inspiration from different cultures, creating something new in the process.
However, the power dynamics matter. Picasso, as a European artist, had the privilege of exposure, recognition, and institutional support, while the African artists whose work informed his innovations remained largely anonymous.
The key difference between influence and appropriation is acknowledgment. Had Picasso actively recognized the African roots of his artistic transformation, art history might have been written differently, with African artists receiving credit and respect.
Why This Debate Matters Today
The lack of acknowledgment reinforces a broader historical pattern where African and African-American artistic innovations are absorbed into the mainstream without due credit.
By engaging with these conversations, we can:
Recognize African artistic traditions as foundational to modern art.
Support African and African-American artists who continue to innovate today.
Reclaim narratives that have been overlooked or distorted in mainstream art history.
Conclusion: Rewriting the Narrative
Rather than debating Picasso’s intent, we focus on ensuring that African artists receive the recognition they deserve for shaping modern art. While Picasso’s engagement with African aesthetics was part of a broader movement of cultural exchange, the key difference is that he and other European artists were celebrated for their innovations.
Institutions like ours are essential. We play a critical role in correcting imbalances, highlighting artistic traditions, and expanding the way art history is told.
What Can You Do?
You can help ensure that the artistic voices of Africa and the African diaspora receive the central place in history they deserve:
Explore African and African-American artists whose work continues this legacy.
Support museums and exhibitions that highlight the African influence on modern art.
Engage in conversations that challenge traditional art history narratives.
Together, we can restore the rightful place of African and African-American artists in history, ensuring that their creativity, influence, and legacy continue to inspire generations to come.
