The Goli masquerade involves the entire community during a day-long spectacle. This masquerade is a dance of rejoicing performed as entertainment during days of rest, harvest celebrations and visits of important individuals. Maskers also appear at men's funerals to honor the deceased and to provide a diversion for mourners.

In the early years of this century, artists such as Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani were influenced by African and other non-European art.  African sculpture, which was on view in ethnographic museums and curio shops, provided exposure to previously unseen forms free from the constraints of European academic standards.

Modigliani admired Baule wood carvings, and elements of Baule style are sometimes incorporated into his paintings.  In Modigliani's painting and this Baule mask, we find elongated heads narrowing to a point at the chin, almond-shaped eyes joined at the top of long, thin noses, and small mouths.