Carl Einstein’s Negro Sculpture (1915) was the first critical study of African sculpture published in Europe, and a groundbreaking text in the history of modern art.
With concise and uncompromising clarity, Einstein dismantled the Eurocentric prejudices of his time and recognized African sculpture as a decisive force in reshaping artistic thought. His study became a touchstone for the European avant-garde, directly informing the formal experiments of Cubism and inspiring Expressionist artists to seek new aesthetic languages beyond Western traditions. Picasso, Braque, and the German Expressionists all drew from the artistic shift Einstein helped articulate.

This edition presents the complete text in English for the first time, accompanied by all 108 original plates. Both a historical landmark and a living provocation,
Negro Sculpture continues to challenge and inspire readers, artists, and scholars alike—indispensable for anyone interested in the origins of modernism and the cross-cultural forces that shaped it.