Helene Love-Allotey
Head of Department
Lot 79
Ibrahim El-Salahi(Sudanese, born 1930)Untitled, circa 1960
17 March 2021, 17:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £40,250 inc. premium
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Ibrahim El-Salahi (Sudanese, born 1930)
Untitled, circa 1960
signed 'Salahi' (lower right)
ink and whitewash on paper
60 x 45.4cm (23 5/8 x 17 7/8in).
signed 'Salahi' (lower right)
ink and whitewash on paper
60 x 45.4cm (23 5/8 x 17 7/8in).
Footnotes
Provenance
The collection of the artist;
The Vigo Gallery, London;
A private collection.
Literature
Hassan, S. M., 'Ibrahim El-Salahi, A Visionary Modernist', pub Tate, 2013, illust p. 56.
El-Salahi is perhaps Sudan's most celebrated living artist. A career spanning five decades, his work was brought to international attention when a major retrospective of his work was held at London's Tate Modern in 2013. The exhibition showcased the breadth of Salahi's oeuvre and explored his key themes: the legacy of colonialism, the creative influence of faith, and his own hybrid identity.
Following his graduation from the Slade School of Fine Art in London, El-Salahi returned to Sudan in 1957 where he devoted his attention to the ancient artistic traditions of the region and the study of calligraphy. His works from this period reflect these interests, fusing African, Arab, Islamic and Western influences.
Executed circa 1960, this ink drawing is an excellent example. The graceful lines show a clear debt to calligraphy. The dense imagery threatens to burst out from the confines of the page, the dynamic lines pulse with energy and life. As an older man, El Salahi reflected on these early drawings:
"It was almost like I had a fever and I had so many ideas coming through me and I had to put them through. So the picture plane was covered, with objects, with figures, with shapes, near and far, big and small, it was packed...there was no space - you cannot travel through it easily..." (El Salahi, interview with Sarah Adams in April, 2002)
This drawing is not easily navigable. It asks the viewer to really look, to concentrate and engage. The reward is well worth the effort.
A similar piece was sold in these rooms in March 2019.
El-Salahi's work can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Metropolitan Museum, New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, The British Museum, London, Tate Modern, London, The Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC, The Guggenheim Museum, Abu Dhabi, The National Gallery, Berlin, and many others.
We are grateful to Toby Clarke from the Vigo Gallery for providing provenance and information used in the above footnote.
