Ben Enwonwu’s paint of Ile-Ife princess, Adetutu Ademiluyi, known as
Tutu, has fetched in a London auction £1,205,000, four times more than
expected.
In naira terms, it was sold for N508,358,301, an African record.
The Nigerian masterpiece, initially declared missing, was found in a “modest north London flat” recently.
The painting, ranked by arts collectors with Mona Lisa, was done by Nigeria’s renowned artist late Ben Enwonwu in 1974.
Bonhams, the auction company, announced the record price for the paint,
which measures 97x 66.5cm and was signed by Enwonwu and dated 1974.
The identity of the buyer of the Lot 47 has not been disclosed yet.
There were other Enwonwu’s paints sold, but none fetched anything near Tutu.
Enwonwu’s Fulani Girl fetched £13,125, Children of Onitsha got £11,250.
A Driveway Ibadan fetched £12,150, while Dancers got £11,250.
Itachafo Muo, another Enwonwu’s paint, was sold for £18,750.
A Tree Lined Village got £40,000, Negritude £100,000 and Female Form, £110,000
The other Nigerian artist whose work was also of great reckoning during the auction was Yusuf
Adebayo Cameron Grillo.
Grillo’s “Evangelists: Cymbal, Triangle and Tambourine,” done in 1964, was sold for £56,250.
Bonhams said on its website that Enwonwu’s portraits of Tutu achieved a
high level of celebrity because the paintings were some of the most
enigmatic works produced by a Nigerian artist in the 20th century.
In 1971, Enwonwu, who died in 1994 at the age of 77, was appointed the first professor of Fine Arts at the University of Ife.
Bonhams said on its website: “The violence of the Nigerian/Biafran
conflict (1967-1970) was still fresh in public consciousness, and
academic institutions were tasked with promoting a spirit of national
reconciliation. Enwonwu embraced this duty, using Negritude ideology and
imagery to explore issues of cultural identity and political
contestation that the Nigerian civil war had laid bare. The artist
created a number of his most famous works during this period, including
three portraits – all titled Tutu – of a young Yoruba woman named
Adetutu Ademiluyi, a granddaughter of a previous Ooni (king) of Ife.
“Enwonwu frequently made trips to the countryside surrounding Ife,
sketching the landscape and recording cultural traditions and practices.
It was during one of these visits that he encountered Tutu. He was so
impressed by her beauty and unusual features that he asked her parents
for permission to paint her. Enwonwu may have also been motivated by her
status as a royal princess of Ife – he was also of royal lineage,
descended from the Umuezearoli of Onitsha. In addition, winning the
approval of the Ife royal house would offer the artist protection from
any problems arising from his Igbo ethnicity, a contentious issue in
post-war Nigeria.”