African Objects and the Fetish at Work in Early Modern Art History

A study of how African objects shaped Western concepts of art, aesthetics, and value, and informed the foundations of art history

While the central role of African art, objects, and rituals in shaping twentieth-century art history has been widely recognized, the longer genealogy of this influence remains an ongoing area of inquiry. This collection of essays examines how European encounters with African objects from the sixteenth century onward reshaped concepts of art, aesthetics, economics, and value during the age of colonial expansion. Drawing on archival, literary, and material sources—from travel literature and judicial proceedings to sales catalogues and museum collections—these essays reveal how African objects, often described as “fetishes,” were central to the emergence of art history as a discipline. 

Distributed for the Clark Art Institute