South African Pictures
When we speak about South African pictures, we generally mean South African art. South African art originates from the cave and rock paintings created by the South African Bushmen – this was the ideal way of exhibiting the hunting of animals in those days. Many scholars are of the opinion that the original African art can be found in the rock paintings of Ahaggar Mountains in Libya and Algeria.
Modern artists possess South African pictures for working tirelessly on them in an effort to produce some of the most beautiful rock art in the world. The creative productions of these artists are collectively named to be Art of South Africa.
History of South African Art
South African art is considered to be nearly 100,000 years old and this is evident from the art objects that appeared in the small drilled snail shell form. The shells were usually used for being strung on a string for forming a necklace.
South African pictures were also influenced by the San/Khoisan/Bushman tribes. These tribes had their own fluent art styles along with which they had moved into South Africa. Further influences came from the Bantu/Nguni tribes, who had their own versions of art forms. European ideas entered South African art post World War II.
South African Art At Present
Today, you will find that many new kinds of South African pictures have emerged in the townships and mines. At present, you will find the art forms to be more dynamic and there are many items used in the art ranging from plastic strips to bicycle spokes.
The folk art of hardy Afrikaner Trek Boers and its Dutch influence has made the process of evolution more strong. The eclectic mix of the aforementioned influence ensures that the future of South African art is certainly bright.
Art and Apartheid
The apartheid years of South African history (1948-1994) deserves mention when discussing South African pictures, as this era marked the great diversity in South African art. In the early years of apartheid, black artists were neglected extremely, and thus the white artists were only left for building a corpus of South African art.
The art during apartheid ranged from landscape painting to abstract art, a very local sense of the artist’s view of the country at troubled times and engagements with currents growing in Europe and the United States.
During this era, South African pictures seemed to float above the political events of the day and the art seemed to handle the political issues with insight and vigor.
