Yoruba art

Yoruba art is the living artistic tradition of the Yoruba peoples of Nigeria, Benin and Togo, stretching from the refined naturalistic terracotta and copper-alloy heads cast at Ife around 800 CE to sculpture made today. Much of it served royal courts and shrines: beaded crowns and regalia, carved veranda posts, gates and doors, altar figures and ritual vessels, and a wide range of masking traditions - Egungun, Gelede and Epa - performed in festivals. Design is often 'seriate', a composition of discrete, equally valued units, and brass is prized as an incorruptible metal. Yoruba thought places art (ona) at the center of creation mythology, and masters such as Olowe of Ise carried the tradition's carved masterpieces to world attention in the twentieth century. The tradition remains vital and influential today.

Defining characteristics

• Refined naturalism in human heads and figures, from Ife terracotta and lost-wax copper-alloy casting
• Seriate, segmented design: compositions of discrete, equally weighted units
• Sumptuous court regalia: beaded crowns with veils, beaded staffs and embroidered robes
• Deeply carved wooden veranda posts, doors and gates with stacked, layered figures
• Regional masquerade arts (Egungun, Gelede, Epa) with polychrome carvings and layered costumes

Key figures

• Olowe of Ise (c. 1873-c. 1938) — Master wood sculptor of Ise whose palace doors and veranda posts carried Yoruba carving to international exhibitions
• Lamidi Fakeye (1928-2009) — Fifth-generation Yoruba wood carver who bridged workshop tradition and modern sculpture

Example works

• Door and lintel from the royal palace at Ikere — Olowe of Ise (before 1924)
• Veranda post (Opo): enthroned king and senior wife — Olowe of Ise (1910-1914)
• Ere ibeji (twin figure) — Yoruba carver (anonymous) (19th-20th century)

Sources

• Yoruba - WikiArt institution
• Yoruba art - Wikipedia encyclopedia
• Olowe of Ise - Wikipedia encyclopedia

← Back to the catalog