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Lot 17

Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E
(Nigerian, 1917-1994)
'Itachafo Muo' (Figure in Action) 41.5 x 18 x 17cm (16 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 6 11/16in).

28 February 2018, 17:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £18,750 inc. premium

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Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917-1994)

'Itachafo Muo' (Figure in Action)
oak
41.5 x 18 x 17cm (16 5/16 x 7 1/16 x 6 11/16in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist, circa 1950.
By descent to the present owner.

Exhibited
London, Berkeley Gallery, 1947.
London, Heal's Mansard Gallery, June 16 to July 17, 1948.

Literature
The Illustrated London News, July 3, 1948. Illustrated p.25.


This sculpture was executed whilst Enwonwu was still a student at the Slade School of Fine Art. The artist had received an invitation from Sir Julian Huxley, director-general of UNESCO, to participate in an exhibition of modern art in Paris the previous year. The show catapulted Enwonwu to international fame. On returning to London, he held two solo exhibitions - one at the Berkeley Gallery, the second at Heal's Mansard Gallery. Itachafo Muo was one of the works featured.

The critical reception was overwhelmingly positive. British art critics, Eric Newton and Maurice Collis, praised Enwonwu's innovative use of modernist techniques. The respected artist, Jacob Epstein, purchased two of the sculptures exhibited at the Berkeley Gallery.

Whilst the focus on the figure's dynamic movement is consistent with modernist movements such as the Futurists, the subject matter is distinctly Nigerian. The title, Itachafo Muo, suggests that the figure depicted is an Igbo masquerade dancer. Enwonwu witnessed many such performances during his childhood in Onitsha.

Bibliography
S. Ogbechie, Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist, (Rochester, 2008), 74.

Additional information

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