‘I think that everyone is hybrid. Nobody, no matter what civilization, can say that his originality is simply an originality of place. Originality goes beyond original provenance, thanks to the acquisition from and contract with others. There is, therefore, always a mixing. The mixing is a universal part of being human.’
Iba N’Diaye is acknowledged to be one of the most important painters of the 20th century in terms of his work and his role in founding the École de Dakar, the focal point of an artistic movement that helped shape the young nation of Senegal between the 1960s and 1980s.
Harnessing the creative energy of a newly emerging country, the movement contributed significantly to the establishment of a cultural policy for Senegal. It found expression through a small group of Senegalese artists who featured in an exhibition entitled Tendances et Confrontation; this was organized by Ida N’Diaye for Dakar’s World Festival of Pan-African Art held in 1966. Other leading members included Papa Ibra Tall and Ibou Diouf.
Source: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/69255
N’Diaye was born in Saint-Louis in 1928. He studied architecture in Senegal before moving to Montpellier and subsequently Paris in the 1940s where he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. French culture came to exert a great influence on N’Diaye in general; he was particularly intrigued by the vibrant Parisian jazz scene as were numerous visiting artists including the famed Gerard Sekoto.
In 1959, N’Diaye returned to Senegal. At the personal request of President Senghor (the country’s first head of state after it secured independence in 1960) he established the National School of Fine Arts in Dakar and served as Head of its Fine Arts faculty until 1966.
President Senghor, an acclaimed poet, was a long-term supporter of the arts which he regarded as instrumental to defining and nurturing his country’s nascent identity. The creation of the École de Dakar illustrates his commitment to the provision of generous funding for the arts and his belief that fostering discourse in fine art could help further his political vision for Senegal. To that end, he hosted cultural festivals dedicated to securing Senegal greater prominence on the world stage while promoting a narrative of Negritude and Pan-African identity.
Unlike his colleagues, Iba N’Diaye’s oeuvre does not try to embody a nationalised authentic African aesthetic. Furthermore, he valued classical Western curriculums and was vehemently opposed to the self-taught artist. He also rejected the assertion that the authentic African artist had an innate creative ability that lent itself towards a unified African aesthetic, a notion which was touted by many of his colleagues, including Papa Ibra Tall.
‘Notably to my young colleagues, I would give several words of advice: be on guard against those who insist that you must be ‘Africans’ before being painters or sculptors, for those who in the name of authenticity, which remains to be defined, continue to want to preserve you in an exotic garden. We are the sons of African cities, which were created, for the most part, in the colonial era, and were crucibles of an original culture, in which…foreign or indigenous cultural contributions dominate…it is in this role that you have a great responsibility: to make our profession legitimate in the eyes of our fellow countrymen, and in those of men from all continents.’
This striking work by Iba N’Diaye - believed to be the only self-portrait he painted - is emblematic of his unique practice of blending his Senegalese identity with his formal European training at the École des Beaux-Arts.
With its wispy strokes and chiaroscuro, this reflective portrait displays a mastery of light and texture that bears stylistic comparison with that of European masters such as Rembrandt or Velazquez. At the same time, it stands in contrast to the tableaus of other Senegalese artists, who favored identifiable African symbols and livelier palettes.
Here, N’Diaye captures himself, a proud Senegalese man. By depicting himself clothed in an antiquated European style, he directly references classic old master portraiture. Picking up from the stately collar, N’Diaye’s eyes immediately captivate. Without being directed at the viewer, they effortlessly hold our attention, immersing us in their thoughtfulness and sensitivity, much like Rembrandt in his famed self-portraits.
It is clear that in challenging the idea of a unified African aesthetic, using strikingly European portraiture techniques, N’Diaye is prompting a reevaluation of how we engage with artists and work originating from the African continent, and indeed, what it means to be African.
Iba N’Diaye returned to Paris in 1967 and remained there until his death in 2008. He is honoured by the sobriquet ‘father of Senegalese modern art’ and in his quest to break down cultural barriers, is remembered as one of the most eminent painters of our time.
The present lot was included in a 1977 retrospective at the Dakar Musée Dynamique, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Senegal. It was gifted to the present owner by the artist and has remained in Senegal until now. In 1981, it was exhibited at the French Cultural Centre of Dakar.
Iba N’Diaye’s work has been included in several international exhibitions, most notably The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movement in Africa 1945-1994 (traveling to Germany and the USA in 2001-02) and Africa Explores: 20th Century African Art at the Center for African Art in New York (1991).
Bibliography:
Elizabeth Harney and Nicholas Thomas, In Senghor’s Shadow: Art, Politics and the Avant-Garde in Senegal 1960-1995, 2004, p. 63-65