Helene Love-Allotey
Head of Department
Lot 29
Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E(Nigerian, 1917-1994)'Water Sprite'
2 May 2019, 14:00 EDT
New YorkUS$20,000 - US$30,000
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Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917-1994)
'Water Sprite'
signed and dated 'BEN ENWONWU/ 1959' (lower right)
oil on board
61.5 x 45cm (24 3/16 x 17 11/16in).
signed and dated 'BEN ENWONWU/ 1959' (lower right)
oil on board
61.5 x 45cm (24 3/16 x 17 11/16in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Purchased directly from the artist in Ibadan, Nigeria 1959 by Professor Constance Geary of University College Ibadan;
A gift to the current owner, 1960;
Private collection, UK.
Enwonwu executed this work at a time when he had reached new heights of international fame. Having been awarded the MBE in 1956 by HM Queen Elizabeth II he was then commissioned to produce a bronze sculpture of the Queen, which he completed in 1957 and which was unveiled at the House of Representatives in Lagos in 1959, the same year in which Water Sprite was painted.
During this period, Enwonwu held a series of commercially successful and critically acclaimed exhibitions in London, Paris and The United States. In 1950, 1952, 1956 and 1957, Enwonwu held exhibitions in Washington DC, New York, Boston and Nashville under the auspices of the Harmon Foundation.
In Water Sprite, Enwonwu combines the themes of Negritude and Africa Dances, both themes having strong links with the Harlem Renaissance. Sylvester Ogbechie writes that Enwonwu himself credits several of his techniques in creating rhythmical patters to the study of the aesthetics of Harlem Renaissance artists such as Meta Warwick Fuller and Aaron Douglas. The influence of Aaron Douglas's work is evident in many of Enwonwu's Negritude pieces; the silhouetted figures representing race consciousness through black identity and experience. The use of geometric backgrounds and borders is also evident in Water Sprite as in the works of Aaron Douglas.
In this painting, Enwonwu has given the figure a very distinct dance gesture, providing the viewer the illusion of movement. Such dance gestures are evident in Enwonwu's Africa Dances works in wood, bronze and paint. One need only look at the sculptures of Richmond Barthé and once again, the paintings of Aaron Douglas, to make further connections between Enwonwu and the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. It is well documented that Enwonwu met both artists during his 1950 exhibition and lecture tour of the US.
An example of this connection between the works of Enwonwu and Barthé can be seen in the dance poses of the Senegalese dancer Feral Benga and the American dancer Josephine Baker. Both dancers were muses to the artists of the Harlem Renaissance and were both living in Paris in the 1920's to 1940's, performing in jazz and cabaret clubs, in particular the Folies Bergere. Enwonwu visited Paris several time, exhibiting there in 1946 and in 1952.
"In London and Paris, Enwonwu joined African and African Diaspora intellectuals in evaluating the Harlem Renaissance Movement in The United States and defining its implications for Pan-African advancement in literature, music, theatre, dance and the fine arts."
Bibliography
Sylvester Ogbechie, Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist, (University of Rochester Press 2008)
