Primitive negro sculpture
A 1926 New York art book by Paul Guillaume, published by Harcourt, Brace, presenting African sculpture to a general art audience. The single picture is a photograph of a carved wooden mask with a pale face, a tall crested headdress with ridged patterning, and a dark patina, mounted on a black stand against a grey ground. A designer could take its strong profile silhouette, sculpted ridges, and high-contrast tonal modelling as a model for bold, graphic form.
