Lot 43
BEN ENWONWU R.A. (NIGERIAN 1917-1994)
TRIO OF DANCING FIGURES
Auction: 18 March 2015 at 11:00 GMT
Description
Signed and dated 1951, gouache
Dimensions
49.5cm x 12cm (19.25in x 4.75in)
Footnote
Provenance: Inherited by the current vendor from their uncle-in-law who was governor of education in Nigeria during the 50s until decolonisation. He is thought to have known Enwonwu personally during this period.
Note: Odinigwe Benedict Chukwukadibia Bonaventure Enwonwu is recognised as one of Africa's eminent artists of the 20th century and an important figure in Nigerian Modernist painting. Further, he is widely considered to have pioneered the appreciation of this movement in the period post-colonialization and has enjoyed international representation in cities including London, Lagos, Milan, New York, Washington D.C., and Boston.
Though sometimes working in the medium of sculpture and often inspired by the landscape of his home country, his work is largely figurative and a favourite subject was the depiction of traditional dancers, using stylised forms to create a sense of movement and rhythm. The work shown here for sale is a typical example, executed shortly after he had finished his artistic training.
His studies were extensive; beginning under Kenneth C. Murray at Government Colleges, Ibadan and Umuahia, 1934-37. Enwonwu then went on to gain qualifications from Goldsmith College, London, in 1944, Ruskin College, Oxford, from 1944 to 1946 and ultimately the Slade School of Fine Arts, Oxford, 1946-48, from which he graduated with first-class honours.
His career has been both fascinating and at times exceptional. Enwonwu has, for example, had a bronze portrait commissioned directly by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956, and has undertaken a postgraduate in Anthropology from the University College London. Perhaps most fantastically of all, the Enwonwu crater on planet Mercury is named in his honour.