Amongst all the African tribal art forms, painting is an integral part of the diverse African tribal art. In fact the paintings done by the tribal artists represent the most colourful forms of artwork which are hard to find anywhere else in the world.

Basically the themes chosen by the artists centre around the day to day happenings in the tribal villages, the tragic events, the calamities, the local festivals and particularly the wildlife.

Examples of African paintings in the pre-historic time period can be noticed on rocks that formed the ancient caves. Here the rock paintings are mostly of human and animal figures that used to act like a source to link the realistic world with that of the spirits.

From these ancient rock paintings, one can get an idea of the primitive life style of the ancient prehistoric African people. However, during the pre-colonial period, a drastic change was noticed in the style of African paintings as the focus changed to abstract themes.

Apart from being a medium for expressing the artistic and creative side of the tribal artists, paintings were also used as a form of tribal communication of secret codes. For example, the Ndebele people of the eighteenth century used to paint symbols of different patterns on the walls of their homes which could be understood by the people of their group only.

Since then a lot of changes can be noticed in the style of the African paintings. Different tribes residing in different parts of Africa have come up with their own unique style of painting.

Today, as a result of many foreign influences contemporary African paintings have taken on a form and genre of their own. Now the painters use this creative medium to vividly portray their viewpoints regarding the society as a whole. African art paintings now have a much deeper meaning than what common people can understand with just one glance.

The African artists in due course of time have come up with some of the most stirring masterpieces of the world. These masterpieces can be seen at our site http://www.southafricanartists.com/. We deal with the contemporary artists of Africa who are taking this tradition of art to new heights. In our online art gallery, you can look for wildlife paintings, original oil paintings, masks and a lot more.