Modern & Contemporary African Art - New York | May 4, 2021 - Bonhams
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Modern & Contemporary African Art New York | May 4, 2021
Modern & Contemporary African Art
New York | Tuesday May 4, 2021 at 2pm
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1 BERTINA LOPES (MOZAMBICAN, 1924-2012) Sogno nello spazio (Dream in Space) signed and dated ‘Bertina ‘93’ (lower right); inscribed with title verso oil on canvas 59 1/16 x 59 1/16in (150 x 150cm) $5,000 - 7,000 £3,600 - 5,100 €4,200 - 5,900 6 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 7
2 OUATTARA WATTS (IVORY COAST, BORN 1957) Poro Drawing IV signed, dated and titled ‘Ouattara 1989 Poro Drawing IV’ (verso) gouache and charcoal on paper 40 9/16 x 25 9/16in (103 x 65cm) $4,000 - 6,000 £2,900 - 4,400 €3,400 - 5,100 8 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 9
3 ANTONIO OLE (ANGOLAN, BORN 1951) Untitled II signed ‘Ole’ (lower left); signed and inscribed ‘”UNTITLED” / Antonio Ole / September 1993 NYC / MAGIDSON GALLERY’ (verso) mixed media on paper 27 15/16 x 27 15/16in (71 x 71cm) $4,000 - 6,000 £2,900 - 4,400 €3,400 - 5,100 10 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 11
4 MALANGATANA VALENTE NGWENYA (MOZAMBICAN, 1936-2011) Untitled signed and dated ‘MALANGATANA 8-9-65’ (lower left) oil on artist’s board 25 1/2 x 24 1/8in (64.8 x 61.3cm) $7,000 - 10,000 £5,100 - 7,300 €5,900 - 8,400 Like most of Malangatana’s paintings from mid 1960s, this work depicts the concerns and struggles of ordinary people while his native Mozambique fought for independence from Portugal. Malangatana was a prominent figure in Mozambique and also played an important role in imagining a broader Africanist aesthetic in Europe and America. His work was intimately connected with his politics and reflects the socio-political conditions of Mozambique, whether during the struggle for independence (gained in 1975) or later during the civil war (1977–92). 12 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 13
5 IBA N’DIAYE (SENEGALESE, 1928-2008) La Chanteuse de Blues (The blues singer) signed and dated ‘N’Diaye 84’ (lower right), bears exhibition label verso oil on canvas 44 7/8 x 76 3/4in (114 x 195cm) $25,000 - 35,000 £18,000 - 25,000 €21,000 - 29,000 Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by Raoul Lehuard; A private collection. Exhibited Den Haag, Netherlands, Musuem Paleis Lange Voorhout, Iba Ndiaye’, 1996. Literature Pierre Gaudibert, Art africain contemporain, Paris, éditions Cercle d’art, 1991, p.139, no.62 Museum Paleis Lange Voorhout, Den Haag, Iba Ndiaye 1996, illust p.21. N’Diaye depicted many jazz musicians and singers in works that have many layers of pigment and varnish to reproduce the sensation of being in a smoke-filled cafe and cabaret. The artist was inspired by a concern for technique similar to that found in musical composition. He voiced a strong affinity with the musicians and would reminisce fondly about the artists he had met and knew. A similar work from the same year ‘Jazz à Manhattan’ can be found in a US private collection and ‘Hommage à Bessie Smith’ currently hangs in the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian, Washington DC. This work of 1987 is a tribute to the African-American blues singer Bessie Smith (1894-1937). An exhibition of the collection of the critic Pierre Gaudibert, who chose to illustrate the above work in his 1991 publication, will be held at the Museum of Modern Art, Paris. It will include two works by Iba N’Diaye. 14 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 15
6
SAM NZIMA (SOUTH AFRICAN, 1934-2018)
Hector Pieterson, 16th June 1976
signed ‘S Nzima’, dated verso ‘16. 4. 2002’
c-print with selenium toner
19 3/4 x 15 15/16in (50.2 x 40.5cm)
$8,000 - 12,000
£5,800 - 8,700
€6,700 - 10,000
Provenance
Acquired directly from Sam Nzima;
A New York City collection.
On 16th June 1976 the South African schoolboy Hector Pieterson was The Soweto uprisings lasted from 16th to 18th June 1976 and
shot and killed by the South African police. the exact number of those who died is not known, but it has been
estimated between 176 to 700.
Earlier in the day in Soweto a large group of schoolchildren were
protesting the implementation of Afrikaans and English as the Sam Nzima started work for The World, a black African daily
languages of schooling. This disregarded the locally spoken languages newspaper in 1968. This paper published the photograph of Hector
in Soweto and across South Africa. Pieterson on 17th June 1976 and Nzima was immediately forced into
hiding due to the harassment he received from the security forces. The
The demonstration started peacefully, but with the arrival of the police paper was closed down by the South African government in 1978.
stones were thrown and the police fired tear gas into the crowd in an
attempt to disperse them. They finally opened fire with live ammunition,
10 people were killed and 250 wounded on that day.
Hector Pieterson was picked up, barely alive, by Mbuyisa Makhubo
and he, together with Hector’s sister Antionette, ran towards Sam
Nzima’s car. Hector was taken to hospital in Nzima’s car were he was
pronounced dead.
16 | BONHAMSMODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 17
7 DUMILE FENI-MHLABA (ZWELIDUMILE MXGAZI) (SOUTH AFRICAN, 1942-1991) Hector Pieterson signed and dated ‘Dumile 8719 (1987)’ (lower right) pen, ink and wash 226 x 127.4cm (226 x 50 3/16in). $50,000 - 80,000 £36,000 - 58,000 €42,000 - 67,000 Provenance Dr Cyril Khanyile of New York City; A private collection. Dumile arrived in New York in the early 1980s and in 1983 submitted twenty sculptures and drawings to an exhibition for the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa. He explained that the intention of exhibiting was: “To keep the conscience of the world alive to the issues at stake. It is dedicated to the achievement of free democratic, non racial societies throughout Southern Africa”. In 1987 Dumile executed a triptych of major drawings for the American Committee on Africa’s Unlock Apartheid’s Jails campaign and in 1988 he held a show entitled Statements at La Galleria in New York. The killing of Hector Pieterson by the South African police on 16th June 1976 was recorded by the photographer Sam Nzima. This iconic image was published around the world and brought the struggle against apartheid in South Africa to international attention. It is further discussed in the footnote to lot 8 in this sale. The subject of Hector Pieterson’s death was in the foremost of the D Feni, ‘South Africa if you could Talk’, Private collection. artist’s mind at this time. In 1988 he produced the drawing ‘South Africa If You Could Talk’ and in that work lists Hector Pieterson as one of the martyrs to apartheid. Dr Khanyile was a South African doctor living in Manhattan who housed the artist between 1985 and 1987 in his apartment at 1274 Fifth Avenue whilst he struggled to find permanent abode. Dumile then moved to stay with the jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela. 18 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 19
8 BENEDICT CHUKWUKADIBIA ENWONWU M.B.E (NIGERIAN, 1917-1994) Male and female dancers, a pair both signed and dated ‘Ben Enwonwu 1951’ (lower right) gouache on paper 22 1/2 x 4 3/8in (57.2 x 11.1cm) each. (2) $25,000 - 35,000 £18,000 - 25,000 €21,000 - 29,000 Provenance Acquired from the artist by Vice Consul Robert Ross of the US Embassy; By direct descent to the current owner. Vice Consul Robert W. Ross served in the US Embassy in Lagos from 1951 - 53, whilst there he reported to Washington on the British attempts at constitutional reform prior to independence. In Sylvester Ogbechie’s monograph ‘Ben Enwonwu, the making of an African Modernist’ a very similar pair dated c.1951-54 are illustrated on page 99. 20 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 21
9 BENEDICT CHUKWUKADIBIA ENWONWU M.B.E (NIGERIAN, 1917-1994) Hausa Boy signed and dated ‘Ben Enwonwu 1951’ (lower right), inscribed ‘Hausa Boy No. 164’ (verso) watercolor, gouache and ink 21 1/4 x 15in (54 x 38.1cm) $15,000 - 20,000 £11,000 - 15,000 €13,000 - 17,000 Provenance Acquired from the artist by Vice Consul Robert Ross of the US Embassy; By direct descent to the current owner. 22 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 23
10 BENEDICT CHUKWUKADIBIA ENWONWU M.B.E (NIGERIAN, 1917-1994) Dancing Girls (recto); Three figures in a landscape (verso) signed, inscribed and dated ‘Ben Enwonwu Benin 1951’ (lower left) watercolor, ink and gouache on paper 15 3/4 x 11 1/2in (40 x 29.2cm) $12,000 - 18,000 £8,700 - 13,000 €10,000 - 15,000 Provenance Acquired from the artist by Vice Consul Robert Ross of the US Embassy; By direct descent to the current owner. Ben Enwonwu with Dancing Girls 24 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 25
Property from the Family
of Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian
Lots 11 - 30
26 | BONHAMSMODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 27
Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian and Gerard Sekoto in Paris Café, 1965-67
Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian (1937-2003)
Born in 1937 during Benito Mussolini’s occupation of Ethiopia to time at the Musée de l’Homme at Trocadéro to examine the
a father of Armenian descent and an Ethiopian mother, Skunder intellectual, legal, and ethical ways in which African cultures
Boghossian is widely believed to be one of the founders of and material heritage were represented and displayed. His
Ethiopian modernism. He attended St. Martin’s School of Art experiences at the Musée de l’Homme also determined the
and Central School in London, as well as the École Supérieure visual construction of the Nourishers which consisted of twelve
des Beaux Arts and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in works of which nine are presently unaccounted for, and only two
Paris at the height of the movement for African liberation and are available in photographic images. Other important works
independence. His close acquaintance with pioneers of these from Skunder’s Paris years are JuJu’s Night Flight of Dread
movements, Aimé Césaire and Cheikh Anta Diop, left a lasting and Delight (1964), an extraordinary multimedia composition
mark on his creative style. And like many of the African artists that depicts the prominence of creation and destruction where
and intellectuals who lived in Paris in the 1960s, Skunder was shades of gray, beige, and ochre are carefully mixed with earthy
inspired by decolonization’s landscape of optimism. As the tones, and JuJu’s Wedding (1964) a mixed media work and one
African American art historian Richard Powell has said, Skunder of Skunder’s early experimentations with the ‘magical scrolls’
Boghossian was part of a genre of African and African American that became a trademark for many of his later works.
artists in Paris who had access to a whole range of black
expressive culture. He returned to Ethiopia in 1966 to teach at the Fine Art School.
There, he immersed himself in the iconography of Ethiopian
Deconstructing the boundaries of European modernism that Christian paintings and architectural forms. While the Paris years
codified theories of images, shapes, and movements was critical brought spiritual viewpoints and fresh imagery about Africa and
for Skunder, as works of art outside the West were considered the African experience to Skunder’s paintings, his works after
either “primitive” or mimetic of a discriminatory modern he returned to Ethiopia mediated spaces between the tradition
European universal. By appropriating the schemes of European of the Ethiopian Orthodox church and the understanding of the
aesthetic and juxtaposing his own images, he contested the modern world within this theology. He examined the transcultural
political, cultural and intellectual praxis of the Western art African influences on Ethiopian church paintings. And the ‘magi-
market, as well as the academy that had framed the legitimacy cal scrolls,’ the magnificent paintings that were made by Ethio-
of modern African art while often hampering its recognition. pian debteras, whose purpose is to fend off evil became a form
of knowledge that fascinated Skunder and, clearly, this curiosity
Certainly, his works in Paris responded to the period’s vibrant became the source for his richly textured luminous scrolls. The
debate about an African modernism in the making. For instance, scrolls embody the delicate weaving of lines and the meshing
it was in Paris that Skunder’s most important series of works, of symbols which Skunder calls kulflfu (the interlocked) or hareg
Nourishers, emerged. Critics in Paris associated the Nourishers (vine weaving) that is found in Ethiopian illuminated manuscripts.
series with the free play that was characteristic of Surrealism. It is also in these scrolls that Skunder juxtaposed West African
But Skunder was interested not only in the Surrealists’ spiritual symbols that he categorized as JuJus. In this regard, he
fascination with objects that were created by the unconscious imagined his fate to be appointed by the ancestors; the symbols
but also in the objects’ political potential. He spent a lot of of the Orthodox church and the West African JuJu became one
28 | BONHAMSAlexander “Skunder” Boghossian with Ed Pryce
and the same as secular concern for a fundamental respect to sistance even though he continued to narrate social variations of
African heritage. black consciousness until his death.
In 1969, Skunder left for the United States where he actively par- As I say in Modernist Art in Ethiopia, “Skunder Boghossian left
ticipated in the Civil Rights Movement. He was invited to become a huge mark on Ethiopian modernism, and artists still execute
an artist in residence at Atlanta University, as well as resident variations of his work. He explored new possibilities in articulat-
instructor in sculpting, painting, and African design at the Atlanta ing that modernism. His span of experience should have defied
center for Black Art. He joined the staff of Howard University in any standard categorizations. However, his work fell prey to the
1972 at the height of the Black Power Movement. At Howard, artistic canon that legitimated certain expressions of art and
he taught painting and became part of a culture of resistance archived the rest in works fitting under the rubric of anticolonial-
by working alongside the period’s most important activists like ism. most emphatically, he was part of a culture of resistance in
Jeff Donaldson who was the founder of the Africobra Movement the 1960s, but he also continued to narrate social variations for
that Skunder is said to have left a mark. He continued to exhibit many years.”
his works widely across the United States during the 1970s and
the 1980s. Of Skunder’s works from the 1980s are his fascinat- Elizabeth W. Giorgis (PhD)
ing experimentation on bark cloths which are frequently used Associate Professor
for burials in East African communities. This examination took a College of Performing and Visual Art
unique dimension in Time Cycle III where the natural wrinkles of Addis Ababa University
the cloth added to the beauty the work magnified. As in Ethio- Currently: The Ali Mazrui Senior Fellow at the Africa Institute in Sharjah UAE
pian church paintings, images that included serpents and African
masks are repeated from different spaces of the art object. Notes
1
Richard Powell, Black Art: A Cultural History (London: Thames and Hudson,
In 1974, a socialist military junta overthrew the imperial regime of 1997), 74.
Emperor Haile Selassie and a gruesome socialist military rule that 2
Juju’s Night Flight of Dread and Delight. 1964. 56.5 × 62.5 in. oil on canvas
ended in 1991 followed. Many of Skunder’s works during this with collage. North Carolina Museum of art, Raleigh.
3
period narrated the themes of repression and misery that per- Jujus Wedding. 1964. 21 1/8 x 20 in. tempera and metallic paint. Museum of
vaded his country. But one also saw in almost all the images that Modern Art in New York.
Debteras are un-ordained members of the clergy who perform the music and
were produced during this time, the irrevocable redemption that
dance of the church and who also function as astrologers and healers.
he always sought, often with a glimmer of natural light that gave 4
Time Cycle III. 1981. 48 × 48 in. embossed bark cloth. The Samuel P. Harn
a feeling of reconciliation to the entire image.
Museum of art, University of Florida, Gainesville.
5
Elizabeth Giorgis. Modernist Art in Ethiopia. Ohio University Press. Athens,
While he continued to produce magnificent images until his
Ohio. P.170.
death in 2003, the art establishment in the 1990s only presented
Skunder’s earlier works alongside those of artists of the 1960s
political movements. He was considered part of a culture of re-
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 29PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 11 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Union signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 66’ (lower left) oil on canvas laid down on board 75 x 49 3/16in (190.5 x 125cm), including frame 49 x 75 $150,000 - 200,000 £110,000 - 150,000 €130,000 - 170,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. Exhibited University of Maryland, Diaspora Dialogue, February 2013, illust pg32. Skunder Boghossian’s Nourishers series emerged in 1963 and the artist experimented with such style until his return to Ethiopia in 1966. Louise Atcheson, a Parisian art critic, wrote in 1963, when the Nourishers first appeared: “Skunder’s figures painted with graphic precision and a dexterity of line, rise vertically in totemic design, speaking to each other sensually in a dialogue of organic force.” Indeed, the vastness of heaven and its creature and the immense spatiality of mortals from the bush were represented in this series. Made two years after his masterpiece painting, Juju’s Flight of Delight and Terror (1964), Union is composed of similar forms of African symbolism and iconography. Clearly, Union depicts the same rich texture and opacity of the Nourishers series along with the series’ elegance. The shimmering lights of objects, or spiritual energies, evoke vivid tensions. His friend Solomon Deressa called these images “the ingenious infusion of spirit into ostensibly prosaic objects.” From the tangible world to its spiritual and supernatural parallel, images are fragmented even as they are simultaneously connected. The colors, lines and shapes of Union invoke myth and magic, and most certainly, shows how Skunder was intrigued by the vernacular of African intellectual thought. We are grateful to Professor Elizabeth Giorgis for her compilation of the above footnote. 30 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 31
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 12 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) The Big Orange signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 71’ (lower center) oil on canvas 76 x 52.5in (193 x 133.4cm) $150,000 - 200,000 £110,000 - 150,000 €130,000 - 170,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. Exhibited Baltimore, Morgan University Gallery, March 1973, no.17. Like several of his works that were done between 1970, one year after he left Ethiopia for the United States, and 1974, the year the Ethiopian revolution broke out, The Big Orange depicts feelings of ambivalence and uncertainty. His very good friend Endale Haile Selassie who taught painting at the School of Fine Art and Design in Addis Ababa had died in 1971. The alleged cause of death was suicide although Skunder believed Endale was murdered by security forces of the imperial regime. In the early 1970s, the government of Emperor Haile Selassie had become politically unstable and abuse of human rights had significantly increased. The Big Orange seems to represent this particular moment of Ethiopian history. Manifold views of various objects and symbols pervade the canvas. Images of two antelopes, a serpent, a bird and an African female mask over many dots of sparkle emerge fantastically and disquietly. The serpent is throwing out its venom away from the female mask as if in an act of protection, and one of the antelopes, the sacred animal that is also called ‘eland’ in East African folktales is adorned with Ethiopian scrolls that is attached to the sun which indicates a higher spirit. A bird stands on one of the antelopes’ back symbolizing optimism and radiance. The initial interaction with the red hue of the canvas is striking that at first leaves the viewer with an imagination of collision and destruction. But instantly, one can see the final redemption that Skunder always sought. We are grateful to Professor Elizabeth Giorgis for her compilation of the above footnote. 32 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 33
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 13 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) The Jugglers signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 62’ (lower right) oil on canvas 19 1/8 x 25in (48.5 x 63.5cm) $70,000 - 100,000 £51,000 - 73,000 €59,000 - 84,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. The South African artist Gerard Sekoto, whom Skunder had befriended in Paris, introduced him to the great Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam in 1959 at the Second International Congress of Negro Writers in Rome. According to Skunder’s friend Solomon Deressa who also lived in Paris during the 1950s and 60s, Skunder was particularly inspired by Lam’s representation of mysterious and primordial totemic images. Indeed, influences from the compositions of Lam encompasses the imagery of The Jugglers. Painted in 1962, The Jugglers seems to also recollect Mengistu Neway, the commander of the Imperial Bodyguard who attempted a coup against Emperor Haile Selassie’s government in 1960. Mengistu Neway’s courage and defiance had impressed Skunder. And perhaps The Jugglers is a reflection of failed attempts for justice. Beyond the background of symbols and signs, intriguing and disturbing visible images emerge; an adorned horse with a nefarious spirit on its head, a white bird, a comparable figure to an Akan fertility spirit and a figure sheathed with what seems like rifles, holding the globe with its wicked hand. The colors are somber but the themes are strikingly detailed. Perhaps the decorated horse characterizes a political leader who is always beautified and bejeweled but who is also constantly in tension with competing forces who are there to extinguish the darkness and gloom of injustice. We are grateful to Professor Elizabeth Giorgis for her compilation of the above footnote. 34 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 35
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 14 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Big Red Scrolls signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 1995’ (lower right); signed and inscribed ‘SKUNDER Boghossian / 3200 16th NW Wash D.C 20010 / 78-93’ oil on canvas 72 x 42in (182.8 x 106.7cm) $60,000 - 90,000 £44,000 - 65,000 €51,000 - 76,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. Big Red Scrolls is an archetypal representation of Skunder’s trademark, the Ethiopian magical scrolls, where symbols that express the ambiguities of good and evil appear and dissolve. The symbols unify pre-Christian indigenous practices with Christian beliefs, and this harmonious and yet ambiguous fusion between animism and divinity, between the pagan and the Christian, is the source of his luminous scrolls. He imaginatively reflects on the illuminations of Ethiopian manuscripts and the astonishing visual unity of the icons and church murals through an overt connection to the spiritual and abstract dimensions of African symbolisms. He brought a new African cultural insight into Ethiopian church art and integrated these two fields of knowledge. Richly textured, it embodies the delicate weaving of lines and the complex interlacing of symbols. In this image, the defining features of the scrolls are ‘dancing.’ In other words, the scrolls are in impressions of motion and seeming transition. He had said these ‘dancing’ scrolls are the jujus that were in perpetual celebration to the glories of the gods. Indeed, the scrolls signify a sense of movement that invites the viewer to participate in the liminal space of joy. His weaving composition or kulflfu (interlocked) is visibly apparent with a delicate relationship to African symbols and iconographies. We are grateful to Professor Elizabeth Giorgis for her compilation of the above footnote. 36 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 37
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 15 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Juju’s Wedding Feast signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 64’ (lower left) mixed media on paper laid down on board 47.5 x 47.5in (120.6 x 120.6cm) $50,000 - 80,000 £36,000 - 58,000 €42,000 - 67,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 1964 was an eventful year for Skunder Boghossian. He had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Lambert in Paris and his friend Solomon Deressa who also lived in Paris during this time reported that the Paris critics were almost unanimous in their positive appraisal. 1964 was also the year, following the Galerie Lambert exhibition, in which he married Marilyn Pryce in Tuskegee, Alabama. His works from 1964 (JuJu’s Night Flight of Dread and Delight, JuJu’s Wedding, JuJu’s Wedding Feast and JuJu Celebrates) not only invoked his ancestral spirits but also asserted his difference. While JuJu’s Night Flight of Dread and Delight depicted the prominence of creation and destruction, JuJu’s Wedding, JuJu’s Wedding Feast and JuJu Celebrates not only portray Skunder’s early experimentations with the ‘magical scrolls’, but also reference the wedding to Marilyn of that year. The work soars with two images: one is an African sacred feminine who is elaborately adorned and who signifies the spiritual power that is embodied by women, and the other is a male figure who is immediately positioned below her. The ‘magical scroll’ is depicted on Wedding to Marilyn Pryce at Marilyn’s home in Tuskegee, AL, 1964. the right side of the work, perhaps to protect the feast from belligerent Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Pryce in photo elements, while the colors, lines and shapes convey the most pleasant moods of festivity. As in most of his works from this period, the playful imagination of the iconography consists of conceptual schemes that includes the ancestral spirits of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the West African juju. We are grateful to Professor Elizabeth Giorgis for her compilation of the above footnote. 38 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 39
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 16 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Juju Celebrates signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 64’ (lower right) acrylic on board with wooden addition and string 30 1/8 x 22 1/16in (76.5 x 56cm) $40,000 - 60,000 £29,000 - 44,000 €34,000 - 51,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. In 1964, Skunder Boghossian had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Lambert in Paris and his friend Solomon Deressa who also lived in Paris during this time reported that the Paris critics were almost unanimous in their positive appraisal. His works from 1964 (JuJu’s Night Flight of Dread and Delight, JuJu’s Wedding, JuJu’s Wedding Feast and JuJu Celebrates) not only invoked his ancestral spirits but also asserted his difference. While JuJu’s Night Flight of Dread and Delight depicted the prominence of creation and destruction, JuJu’s Wedding, JuJu’s Wedding Feast and JuJu Celebrates portray Skunder’s early experimentations with the ‘magical scrolls.’ Certainly, the most critical element of the scroll which also prevails in the iconographies of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the representation of the impressive gazing eye, as is seen in the image, which are captivating as they are deceptive. Clearly, the viewer unconditionally submits to their gaze. The miracles of the Virgin Mary (Ta’amere Maryam), a legendary narrative of the Virgin Mary’s miracles is often painted on a whole wall in one side of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. JuJu Celebrates observes this piety as a central feature while embodying the Virgin Mary in a most remarkable illustration of West African spirituality. Fascinatingly too, the interlacing of lines and textures that symbolizes the Ethiopian scrolls, which depict the struggles between good and evil is also juxtaposed on the West African iconography that embodies the Virgin Mary. Skunder’s fundamental respect for the ancestral powers were prevalent in his works because he saw their significance, whether it was the Virgin Mary or the West African JuJu, as the ultimate bearers of justice. We are grateful to Professor Elizabeth Giorgis for her compilation of the above footnote. 40 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 41
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 17 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Yellow Scrolls signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 83’ (lower left) acrylic and ink on card stock 14 15/16 x 35 13/16in (38 x 91cm) $20,000 - 30,000 £15,000 - 22,000 €17,000 - 25,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 42 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 43
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 18 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) The Ascent mixed media on paper 16 1/8 x 13in (41 x 33cm) Executed circa 1960s $15,000 - 20,000 £11,000 - 15,000 €13,000 - 17,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 44 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 45
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 19 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Red Sun signed and dated ‘SKUNDER ‘80’ (lower left) mixed media (acrylic, pastel and thread, possibly on goat skin) 40 3/16 x 27 3/8in (102 x 69.5cm) $15,000 - 20,000 £11,000 - 15,000 €13,000 - 17,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 46 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 47
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 20 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) The Ceremony signed and dated ‘SKUNDER ‘89’ (lower right) pastel and Conté crayon on card board 31 7/8 x 19 11/16in (81 x 50cm) $15,000 - 20,000 £11,000 - 15,000 €13,000 - 17,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. Exhibited University of Maryland, Diaspora Dialogue, February 2013, illust pg41. 48 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 49
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 21 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Ménage à Trois signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 88’ (lower right) watercolor and gouache on paper 20 1/16 x 16 1/8in (51 x 41cm) $12,000 - 18,000 £8,700 - 13,000 €10,000 - 15,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 50 | BONHAMS
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY
OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
22
ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
(ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003)
Blind Faith
signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 92’ (lower right)
gouache and pastel on card stock
26 x 39 3/4in (66 x 101cm)
$12,000 - 18,000
£8,700 - 13,000
€10,000 - 15,000
Provenance
The collection of the artist’s family.
Exhibited
University of Maryland, Diaspora Dialogue, February 2013, illust pg49.
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 51(Recto) (Verso) PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 23 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) The Basement Wall titled, dated and inscribed ‘The Basement Wall ‘71 4th St N.W Wash D.C’ acrylic on heavy card stock 23 13/16 x 17 15/16in (60.5 x 45.5cm) $10,000 - 15,000 £7,300 - 11,000 €8,400 - 13,000 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 52 | BONHAMS
(Recto) (Verso)
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY
OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
24
ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
(ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003)
Summer Fertility (recto); similar (verso)
signed and dated ‘SKUNDER ‘71’ (lower right)
acrylic on goat skin
17 1/8 x 12 5/8in (43.5 x 32cm)
$10,000 - 15,000
£7,300 - 11,000
€8,400 - 13,000
Provenance
The collection of the artist’s family.
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 53PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 25 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Crimson Menagerie mixed media on artist’s board 15 3/16 x 24in (38.5 x 61cm) Executed circa 1980s $4,000 - 6,000 £2,900 - 4,400 €3,400 - 5,100 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 54 | BONHAMS
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY
OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
26
ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
(ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003)
Festivity Series I
signed, titled and dated ‘Skunder ‘76 “Festivity Series I”’ (lower right)
colored marker and pen on paper
13 9/16 x 9 13/16in (34.5 x 25cm)
$2,000 - 3,000
£1,500 - 2,200
€1,700 - 2,500
Provenance
The collection of the artist’s family.
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 55PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 27 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Les fleurs du mal signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 95’ (lower right) watercolor, pastel and Conté crayon on heavy card stock 23 5/8 x 17 15/16in (60 x 45.5cm) $2,000 - 3,000 £1,500 - 2,200 €1,700 - 2,500 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 56 | BONHAMS
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY
OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
28
ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
(ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003)
In the Beast’s Belly
watercolor, colored marker, ink and pen on card stock
14 15/16 x 11in (38 x 28cm)
Executed circa 1970s
$2,000 - 3,000
£1,500 - 2,200
€1,700 - 2,500
Provenance
The collection of the artist’s family.
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 57PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN 29 ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Jungle Boogie acrylic, ink and crayon on paper 14 3/4 x 19 7/8in (37.5 x 50.5cm) Executed in 1970 $2,000 - 3,000 £1,500 - 2,200 €1,700 - 2,500 Provenance The collection of the artist’s family. 58 | BONHAMS
PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY
OF ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
30
ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN
(ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003)
Shrouded Lady
colored marker on paper
8 3/16 x 5 1.8in (20.8 x 13cm)
Executed circa 1970s
$1,000 - 1,500
£730 - 1,100
€840 - 1,300
Provenance
The collection of the artist’s family.
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 5931 AFEWERK TEKLE (ETHIOPIAN, 1932-2012) The King Libne Dingil and his retinue by the Valley of Semien signed and dated ‘Afewerk Tekle 1988’ (lower right) oil on canvas laid down on board 67 x 36 1/4in (170 x 92cm) $20,000 - 30,000 £15,000 - 22,000 €17,000 - 25,000 Provenance Acquired directly from the artist in 1996; A private US collection. The Emperor Libne Dingel (Dawit II) (1496-1540) assumed the Ethiopian throne at the age of ten and had a campaigning and victorious early rule. He did though spend the last ten years of his realm in flight in the Ethiopian countryside, he is here depicted in the Semien mountains in northern Ethiopia. The work is accompanied by the original purchase certificate from the artist. 60 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 61
32
ERNESTO SHIKHANI (MOZAMBICAN , 1934-2010)
Libertação dos Povos Negros
signed and dated ‘SHIKHANI/ 74’ (upper right); inscribed ‘-1-
Libertação dos Povos Negros’ (verso)
oil on canvas
39 1/16 x 19 11/16in (99.25 x 50cm)
$5,000 - 8,000
£3,600 - 5,800
€4,200 - 6,700
Provenance
Acquired by Mr Guglielmo Riccitelli in East Africa in the late 1970s.
By direct descent to the current owner.
Shikhani and his contemporaries, the artists Malangatana and However, when his works went on display in Lisbon, their overtly
Chissano, were part of a prominent group of artists in Mozambique political nature and nationalist sentiment soon attracted the attention
who played a key role in broadening aesthetic reciprocity across Africa, of the PIDE (Portuguese International and State Defense Police). The
Europe and the USA. exhibition was shut down and Shikani’s works confiscated.
Following his first solo show in Maputo in 1968, Shikhani was awarded At the time this painting was executed, a ceasefire had just been
a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon in 1973. The negotiated been FRELIMO and Portugal, bringing a decade of violence
grant enabled the artist to exhibit internationally. to an end. This was a pivotal moment for the artist, finally freed from
the constraints of colonial censorship.
62 | BONHAMS33
GEOFFREY ERNEST KATANTAZI MUKASA
(UGANDAN, 1954-2009)
Three Faces
signed and dated ‘MUKASA 2000-01’ (lower right) **(double-check)
oil on canvas
35 13/16 x 36in (91 x 91.5cm)
$5,000 - 8,000
£3,600 - 5,800
€4,200 - 6,700
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 6334
IRMA STERN (SOUTH AFRICAN, 1894-1966)
Zulu Girl with Cocks
signed and dated ‘Irma Stern 1954’ (upper left)
oil on canvas
33 x 26.5in (84 x 67cm)
$100,000 - 150,000
£73,000 - 110,000
€84,000 - 130,000
Provenance
Acquired from the Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg in 1961;
The collection of Dr Paul Stein, Johannesburg;
By descent to the current owners.
Exhibited
Sao Paulo, 4th Bienale, 1957, no.19 (possibly)
Cape Town, Galleria Albina, November 1959, no.19
Munich, Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt, February 1960, no.15
Johannesburg, Adler Fielding Galleries, November 1961, no.7
Irma Stern seems to have made two paintings with similar titles and This show subsequently went on to the Berlin City Hall which Stern
subject-matter in the 1950s which, not surprisingly, appear to have noted was her first official invitation to exhibit in the city after the War.
been confused in the early sources. In 1957 she submitted ‘Swazi Back in South Africa, the painting is listed as #7 ‘Zulu Girl with Cocks’
(duma triba Zulu) com galo’ or ‘Swazi (from the Zulu tribe) with in the Adler Fielding Galleries exhibition in Johannesburg in November
Rooster’ amongst other work to the Sao Paolo Bienal in Brazil. 1961, at the considerable sum of 200 guineas. The photograph
annotation in Stern’s Scrapbook that records this title and the date
The artist then pasted a photograph of the present painting in her ‘1959’ also indicates that the painting was in the collection of ‘Dr P.
Scrapbook and annotated it ‘Zulu Girl with Cocks, 1959’: this date, Stein, Johb’ who bought it from this exhibition.
obviously, would preclude its inclusion in the Bienal two years earlier.
The confusion is compounded by Stern’s inscription of the date in the Irma Stern did travel to the Eastern Cape early in 1959 (although
top left corner of this painting which could be read, like the Scrapbook not, as far as is known, in 1954). A number of drawings dated 1959
annotation, as ‘1959’, but more often as ‘1954’. of turban-clad, pipe-smoking and other women characteristic of the
former Transkei are preserved in the Irma Stern Museum. But the
The change in ethnic identity of the two women portrayed, and the original title of the painting ‘Zulu Girl with Cocks’ is significant. On this
number of roosters described in the sources might not be significant. trip, Irma Stern seems to have travelled as far as the Pondoland/Natal
But the fact that the Sao Paolo work measured only 67.3 x 54.6cm as border. She made a painting of a ‘Pondo Girl’ that was sent to Israel in
against the larger scale of the present work, determines that it is likely February 1959. And the ‘Zulu Girl’ painting in the Irma Stern Museum
that there were two different works. (ISC 37) clearly depicts a young Cele woman from the Natal side of
the border. This painting, incidentally, seems to have been worked up
This painting is first noticed in reviews in 1959. Die Burger of 11 in the studio from a field drawing (ISC 1149) and it is probable that the
November 1959 picks it out as no.19 in the major retrospective of ‘Zulu Girl with Cocks’ was also based on a drawing made in the field.
Irma Stern’s work at the Galleria Albina in Tulbagh Square, Cape Town, As for the Zulu (or Swazi) identity of this young woman, there is little
describing it as “manjifieke” and dedicating its single illustration to the to confirm this in the painting but the detail of the hair falling over her
work. And Matthys Bokhorst in ‘An Instructive Show of Irma Stern’s brow looks to be of the same ochre colour as the hair in the Irma Stern
Art’ in the Cape Times of 16 November 1959, described the painting, Museum’s ‘Zulu Girl’.
then under the title ‘Native Girl with Cocks’, as:
If there was an original drawing for the ‘Zulu Girl with Cocks’ it has
“An outburst of flaming colours which shows better than anything else not been identified. But the “flaming colours”, the “broad palette-knife
the typical Stern technique of broad palette-knife work, alternating work” and “the most temperamental strokes of the brush”, noted by
with the most temperamental strokes of the brush ever seen in South Bokhorst, were likely deployed in the studio to transform a curious
Africa.” genre subject into this highly expressive image. Quite what Irma Stern
intended to communicate in this painting is not clear. It is certainly
This description of a loose painterly technique explains why the date far removed from “the lovely fairy-tale outlook on native life”, as she
is so difficult to read, 1954 or 1959. Both reviews, however, state that described her early work in a letter of 1955.
this work was included in the Sao Paulo Biennale late in 1957. So
either the work was incorrectly measured for the Sao Paulo exhibition In fact, in her response to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Award in
or the Die Burger and Cape Times reviewers have confused two works June 1960, Stern said of her painting ‘Intrigue’, that came from this
of similar title. same trip to the Eastern Cape/Natal region, that it “is symbolic of the
unrest I sensed in the countryside”. Whatever its precise meaning,
Bokhorst mentioned in his review that the painting had not been ‘Zulu Girl with Cocks’ is certainly an “outburst” of flamboyant energy
shown in South Africa before the 1959 exhibition and a work of this that attributes extraordinary presence and power to the young female
title is conspicuous by its absence from the exhibition lists of shows subject.
between 1954 and 1959 that are preserved in the Scrapbook. After
the November 1959 show, the painting was next exhibited at the We are grateful to Professor Michael Godby for his assistance in the
prestigious Irma Stern exhibition at the Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt in compilation of the above footnote.
Munich in February and March 1960 as #5 ‘Native Girl with Cocks’.
64 | BONHAMSMODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 65
35 HASSAN EL GLAOUI (MOROCCO, 1924-2018) Moroccan Riders signed ‘Hassan el Glaoui’ (lower right) oil on board 20 1/16 x 25 5/16in (51 x 64.3cm) $20,000 - 30,000 £15,000 - 22,000 €17,000 - 25,000 66 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 67
36 DUMILE FENI-MHLABA (ZWELIDUMILE MXGAZI) (SOUTH AFRICAN, 1942-1991) Untitled signed and numbered ‘DUMILE 8819 (1988)’ (twice, lower right); signed ‘DUMILE’ (upper right) pen and pencil on paper 28 15/16 x 22 13/16in (73.5 x 58cm) $12,000 - 18,000 £8,700 - 13,000 €10,000 - 15,000 Provenance The collection of Lucy Jarvis (1917-2020); By descent to the current owner. Lucy Jarvis was a US television producer who, in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, when television’s top producing ranks included few if any other women, helped bring about some remarkable programming, including gaining access to the Kremlin for a 1963 television special. 68 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 69
37 CECIL EDWIN FRANS SKOTNES (SOUTH AFRICAN, 1926-2009) Red Totem base inscribed ‘12’ (lower left, recto and verso) oil on incised wood 96 1/16 x 13 x 11 13/16in (244 x 33 x 30cm $10,000 - 15,000 £7,300 - 11,000 €8,400 - 13,000 Provenance The collection of Lucy Jarvis (1917-2020); By descent to the current owner. The above work can be dated to circa 1967 as this was the year that Skotnes produce many Totem figures. They reflected the artist’s fascination with the Native Americans’ life and art. Lucy Jarvis was a US television producer who visited South Africa in December 1967 to film Christiaan Barnard’s groundbreaking heart transplant operation. 70 | BONHAMS
(Recto) (Verso)
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 7138 JOSEPH NTENSIBE (UGANDAN, BORN 1953) Abstract Shapes signed and dated ‘NTENSIBE ‘03’ (lower right) oil on canvas 73 7/16 x 49 3/16in (186.5 x 125cm) $12,000 - 18,000 £8,700 - 13,000 €10,000 - 15,000 72 | BONHAMS
39
JOSEPH NTENSIBE (UGANDAN, BORN 1953)
Three smiles - Seduction
signed an dated ‘NTENSIBE ‘06’ (lower right)
oil on canvas
48 13/16 x 69 1/8in (124 x 175.5cm)
$12,000 - 18,000
£8,700 - 13,000
€10,000 - 15,000
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 7340 JAMES AMOS PORTER (AMERICAN, 1905-1970) Seraphim and Cherubim, Lagos oil on canvas 20 1/16 x 14 1/16in (51 x 35.7cm) Painted in 1964 $10,000 - 15,000 £7,300 - 11,000 €8,400 - 13,000 Provenance The estate of Prof. Adelaide M. Cromwell (1919-2019). Exhibited Washington, DC, Howard University, Gallery of Art, ‘Retrospective Exhibition: Paintings of the Years 1954-1964’, 1965, cat no. 24. James A. Porter, born in Baltimore in 1905, was the first African- American art historian. His 1943 book Modern Negro Art was the earliest comprehensive treatment of African-American art, he was an art instructor at Howard University and chairman of its art department, a position he retained until his death. In 1963 he made an educational trip to West Africa, sponsored by the Evening Star, Washington DC. There he conducted research for a book on West African architecture and completed a series of twenty- five paintings dealing with West African themes. These paintings were exhibited in the Gallery of Art at Howard University following his return. Adelaide Cromwell was the founder of the African American Studies Center at Boston University in 1959 and did much raise awareness of Boston’s black history. 74 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 75
41 W SAMMY BALOJI (CONGOLESE, BORN 1978) ‘Raccord #5, Mine à ciel ouvert noyée de Banfora’ from the series ‘Kolwezi’ digital inkjet print 34 x 93 1/2in (86.4 x 237.5cm) Edition 2/5 + 2AP $20,000 - 30,000 £15,000 - 22,000 €17,000 - 25,000 Here the artist photographs his native province of Katanga in the DRC, a mineral-rich area that is home to artisanal mining on a huge scale. The meagre tarpaulin homes of the miners are often decorated with kitsch posters made in China. Baloji creates an uncomfortable contrast by paring these enhanced unrealistic images, that suggest a utopian world, in stark contrast to the dystopian hell surrounding the workers. 76 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 77
42 GERARD SEKOTO (SOUTH AFRICAN, 1913-1993) A township street scene signed and dated ‘G SEKOTO ‘58’ (lower right); inscribed ‘SEKOTO’ (verso) mixed media on card 12 5/8 x 19 11/16in (32 x 50cm) $7,000 - 10,000 £5,100 - 7,300 €5,900 - 8,400 78 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 79
43 * ALEXANDER “SKUNDER” BOGHOSSIAN (ETHIOPIAN, 1937-2003) Two Figures Seen Through an Archway signed and dated ‘SKUNDER 68’ (lower right) oil on practical board 21 x 17 1/16in (53.3 x 43.3cm) $4,000 - 6,000 £2,900 - 4,400 €3,400 - 5,100 80 | BONHAMS
44
ARMAND BOUA (IVORIAN, BORN 1978)
Three Abidjan Street Children
signed ‘Boua’ (lower right)
oil, gouache and tar on paper
42 1/2 x 38in (108 x 96.5cm)
$3,000 - 5,000
£2,200 - 3,600
€2,500 - 4,200
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 8145 • SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP (NIGERIAN, BORN 1958) Female Figure welded steel 19 1/2 x 8 1/4 x 5 5/16in (49.5 x 21 x 13.5cm) $3,000 - 5,000 £2,200 - 3,600 €2,500 - 4,200 82 | BONHAMS
46 •
SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP (NIGERIAN, BORN 1958)
Female Figure
welded steel
19 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 11 7/16in (49.5 x 19 x 29cm)
$3,000 - 5,000
£2,200 - 3,600
€2,500 - 4,200
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 8347 MISHECK MASAMVU (ZIMBABWEAN, BORN 1980) You realise, I am you signed ‘M Masamvu’ (lower right) oil on canvas 37 5/8 x 31 11/16in (95.5 x 80.5cm) $4,000 - 6,000 £2,900 - 4,400 €3,400 - 5,100 Exhibited Bulawayo, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, ‘A Naked Mind’, 2002. 84 | BONHAMS
48
LOUIS KHELA MAQHUBELA (SOUTH AFRICAN, BORN 1939)
Untitled
oil on canvas
152.4 x 120.7cm (60 x 47 1/2in)
$4,000 - 6,000
£2,900 - 4,400
€3,400 - 5,100
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 8549 ABOUDIA ABDOULAYE DIARRASSOUBA (IVORIAN, BORN 1983) Daloa, Cote Ivoire, 29th March 2011 inscribed ‘Daloa le 29’ (upper left) mixed media, acrylic and collage on canvas 70 7/8 x 157 1/2in. (180 x 400cm) unframed. Please note this work is currently located in our London galleries. $50,000 - 80,000 £36,000 - 58,000 €42,000 - 67,000 Provenance Acquired from the Jack Bell Gallery, London in 2012; The Saatchi collection; A private collection. Exhibited London, Jack Bell Gallery, The Battle for Abidjan, 2011 London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea: New Art from Africa and Latin America, 2014 London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea II: New Art from Africa and Latin America, 2015 Literature Saatchi Gallery, Pangaea, 2014, p.19. This work comes from a series painted during the civil war of 2010- 11. Following the disputed election of November 2010 the supporters of Laurent Gbagbo fought for control of the country against the supporters of Alassane Ouattara. The conflict ceased in April 2011 with the capture of Gbagbo, it had resulted in the death of three thousand people and the displacement of up to a million others. Taking refuge in an underground studio, Aboudia would venture outside to witness the destruction. Here he depicts the capture of the western town of Daloa on 29th March 2011 by the pro-Ouattara Forces Républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI) where they ousted the Forces de Défense et de Sécurité (FDS) of President Gbagbo. 86 | BONHAMS
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART | 87
50 ABOUDIA ABDOULAYE DIARRASSOUBA (IVORIAN, BORN 1983) Noutchy Graffiti signed and dated ‘Aboudia 18’ (lower right) oil on canvas 50.8 x 40.6cm (20 x 16in). $7,000 - 10,000 £5,100 - 7,300 €5,900 - 8,400 Provenance Acquired from the Ethan Cohen Gallery, NYC; A private collection. Noutchy (or Noutchi) is an argot spoken by Ivorian street children, a fusion of Ivorian and French. It has been used by the artist to describe his distinctive style influenced by the graffiti of Abidjan. It is also the name of the artist’s dog. 88 | BONHAMS
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