Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E

(Nigerian, 1917-1994)

Yoruba Woman in Blue (framed)

Footnotes

Provenance
A private collection, Lagos;
The collection of Andreas Vracas;
By direct descent to the current owner;
A private collection.

Exhibited
Lagos, US Embassy: United States Information Service, (April 14-20th 1973), no, 31.

As a monumental work in the artist's oeuvre, Bonhams is thrilled to present Yoruba Woman in Blue by the exemplary African modernist artist, Ben Enwonwu. In subject to technique and composition, the present work can draw many parallels to some of the artist's most beautiful and successful works to sell at auction, namely the Tutu series. These parallels distinguish this iconic portrait as a work of art that should be held with the highest regard within the artist's highly distinguished career.

Engaging the female subject and an exploration of femininity was a popular thematic practice for Enwonwu in the early 1970's that is also seen in the Tutu series whose subject has been precisely concluded as depicting Adetutu Ademiluyi. This is contextually significant for Enwonwu. Indeed, Enwonwu's Nigerian heritage remains ever present in works such as the present lot. The Igbo culture championed women in the community as pillars of society. Adorned in a Gele, possibly Adire dyed clothes, jewellery, and with the long neck that is synonymous with other depictions of women, it is indisputable that the subject of the present lot is a woman held in high esteem and regard. Enwonwu also believed in entering into a modern Nigerian aesthetic, incorporating his formal training in Western portraiture with his traditional Igbo philosophical tropes. He stated "the tradition of African art has followed a line of non-representation [and] will change its course in accordance with the infiltration of western [sic] culture. Whatever the neo-African culture is today, art should express it and should employ all the native and acquired means that are possible." (Enwonwu quoted in Ogbechie, 2008: p. 79). Leaving Nigeria for London in 1944 to pursue his artistic education, Enwonwu enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art, before being admitted to Ruskin College at the University of Oxford upon the outbreak of the Second World War. During his time at university, Enwonwu wrote his intentions for his artistic style and career in August 1943:

"I am keeping my art African – even if I stay in England for 60 years, I will still figure in my works, a plain blunt African. I believe very strongly in being myself and to be original and African."

In many ways, this work resonates with the pastel drawing by the artist; Portrait of a Yoruba lady sold by Bonhams in 2016. It could be concluded that, as both the drawing and present oil painting were completed in the same year of 1973, Portrait of a Yoruba lady was perhaps a preparatory drawing for this captivating painting. While slightly differing in the angle and adornments of the subject, both profiles present us with a Yoruba woman. Moreover, both portraits present an emphasis on the compositional technique that the artists employs, by which he illuminates the subjects from the left-hand side. Again, this element of the works strongly resonate with the paintings of the Tutu series.

Resonating further with the Tutu series and due to the present work's exhibition records and numbers inscribed on the original pre-restorative stretcher (included with this lot), it is highly likely that this work preluded the Tutu series. In an exhibition record of April 1973, it could be concluded that, given these lot numbers, it is highly likely that this work was included. While two numbers on the stretcher, numbers 24 and 47, have a line drawn through them implying perhaps a mistaken numerical labelling, all three numbers insinuate works of a similar content to the present work. Decisively, number 31 remains uncrossed, thus concluding this title.

Given the work's exhibition information and Yoruba Woman in Blue's visual similarities, it could furthermore be concluded, that the present work pre-empted the Tutu paintings, the first of which was painted in December 1973. Moreover, emphasising the striking qualities that Enwonwu incorporated in his works that carried through over the year. In sustaining elements of colour use, composition and light, we gain an understanding that the artist felt these elements held gravitas and importance within his portraits. However, the present work is not as contrasted in palette as the Tutu works, presenting itself more fluid in palette. The artist's use of teal blue, not only in the robes of the figure, but also as his base layer of the background before more yellow shades were applied, assists a glowing hue providing a mysticism to the work. This technique can also been seen in his work Isaiah the Driver(1968) completed some years before the present work. Interestingly, the yellow application on the background is rare within the artist's portraiture of women, where darker backgrounds seemed to be his preference with a Caravaggio essence, therefore contributing to the rarity of the present work.

Bibliography
Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist (Rochester, NY: 2008)