Picasso and African Influences: Masks and Primitivism

African art informed Picasso’s anatomies—mask‑like faces, tectonic planes, and condensed gestures. The influence isn’t imitation; it’s dialogue and structural rethinking.

🔎 What Changes?

• Eyes: Almond shapes, frontal insistence.
• Bodies: Compressed torsos, angular limbs.
• Space: Congested, energetic, non‑illusionistic.

Ethics of Display

Curators contextualize African sources to avoid exoticism—reciprocity and respectful scholarship foregrounded.

$$ \text{Plane Count} approx 3N + 2 quad (N=\text{major anatomical regions}) $$