associated with German Expressionism, was Franz Marc. While Marc painted an array of subjects, he was most interested and proved the most talent in his portrayal of animals. Before Marc, ethnic and primeval artists only placed such an emphasis on animals in art. Franz Marc used “ brilliant color in a symbolic and arbitrary way” (Brommer, 398) combining it with shape and rhythm to dramatize the integration of all creatures found in nature and on the open range. Amedeo Modigliani was an Italian painter who spent most of his life painting in Paris. At first Modigliani’s work was strongly influenced by Toulouse-Lautrec. However, he soon developed a unique style distinguished by elongated distortion and strong linear rhythms of African sculpture. His portrait sculptures are reminiscent of African masks in their extended forms and stylized features. This representation is present in paintings such as Nu Couch De Dos (Reclining Nude from the Back), and La Jeune Bonne (The Servant Girl).A friend of Modigliani, Constantin Brancusi was a Rumanian artist, who had later moved to Paris, involved in the Abstractionist movement. Brancusi’s art heavily involved sculpture. His limestone carving, The Kiss, fashioned in 1912 reveals his interest in simplification and the elimination of detail. The simplification ofsculpture was an African characteristic he admired. Brancusi “cherished the basic upright shape of the block of stone, considering it a strong primitive form, and carved it as little as possible”, (Brommer, 416)Western artists had finally discovered the enduring qualities of African art. African art has come to be appreciated for its intrinsic aesthetic value as well as continuing to be a source of inspiration for the work of Western artists....
