A Recently Discovered Portrait by Nigerian Star Ben Enwonwu Sold for Nearly 8 Times Its Estimate at Sotheby’s London

A recent sale of a portrait by Ben Enwonwu has further cemented
the hype growing around the Nigerian master of modernity’s name. At
Sotheby’s London last night, Enwonwu’s
painting Christine (1971) sold for £1.1 million
($1.4 million), leaping beyond its pre-sale high estimate of
£150,000 ($192,000).

After a 13-minute bidding war between four buyers, the work sold
to an undisclosed collector, taking the top spot in the evening’s
modern and contemporary African art sale.

The subject of the painting, Christine Elizabeth Davis, was an
American hairstylist of West Indian descent whose husband had
commissioned the work. Staff members at the auction house “were
simply blown away by her beauty,” said Hannah O’Leary, Sotheby’s
head of modern and contemporary African art.

The artist, who died in 1994, has become eagerly sought-after
since his portrait Tutu
sold for £1.2 million ($1.7 million) at Bonhams
London in 2018. The painting, of Nigerian royal
princess Adetutu Ademiluyi, had been missing for 40 years
before it was discovered in a London apartment.

Like Tutu, the recently
sold Christine also came to auction
via some luck. “The
family were unaware of the significance of the painting or the
importance of the artist, until a chance ‘googling’ of the
signature led them to Sotheby’s free Online Estimate Platform,” the
London auction house said in a statement.

Enwonwu’s posthumous rise could be seen as a bellwether for the
growing market for
modern and contemporary art from Africa. The sale, the auction
house’s fifth in the category, included 100 works from 56 artists
hailing from 20 African countries. The 10 lots on offer by Enwonwu
sold for a combined £1.8 million ($2.3 million). Altogether, the
sale realized £4 million ($5.1 million), nearly doubling the
pre-sale high estimate of £2.8 million ($3.5 million).

“If today’s auction confirms anything, it’s the position of
African art as one of the most eclectic and exciting areas of the
global art market today,” said O’Leary. “I encourage
collectors and art lovers across the globe to watch this space as
works by such incredibly talented artists continue to capture the
attention of the art world.”

The emerging Congolese art star Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga’s Duty
of Memory went for £62,500 ($79,131), while  another work
by the artist, Influence, sold for £50,000 ($63,305), both
doubling their pre-sale estimates, though not beating the artist’s
current record of £81,250 ($105,876).

Other notable artists in the sale included William Kentridge, El
Anatsui, and Gerard Sekoto. The latter’s work on offer, a moody
canvas in a golden frame called Cyclists
in Sophiatown, was made in 1940, in pre-apartheid times
in South Africa. Four years after the work was made, the South
African government began setting in motion its forced removal of
residents from this vibrant black suburb of Johannesburg. The work
sold for £362,500 ($458,961).

Another more abstract work by Enwonwu, Africa
Dances (1970), achieved £471,000 ($596,333) above an
estimate of about £175,000.

The post A Recently Discovered Portrait by Nigerian Star Ben
Enwonwu Sold for Nearly 8 Times Its Estimate at Sotheby’s
London appeared first on artnet News.