AKINOLA LASEKAN | PORTRAIT OF CHIEF J.D. AKEREDOLU

Private Collection, Lagos

C. Okeke-Agulu, Postcolonial Modernism, p.145, illustrated on p.119

This portrait tells the story of two of the most important Nigerian artists of the pre-independence era, Chiefs Akinola Lasekan (1916-72) and Justus D. Akeredolu (1915-84). Both men were born in Owo, in Ondo State, and set up a studio together in Lagos in 1940. In 1945, they travelled to London to exhibit and further their studies; in the years leading to independence, both artists were looking to master their respective media (portrait painting and thorn carving) to represent the Yoruba people as proud, intelligent and independent, unlike the stereotypes fashioned by their colonizers.

Works by both artists were collected and exhibited by the Harmon Foundation in the United States in 1958-59, and both exhibited at the Nigerian Independence Exhibition in 1960, where the present lot was also shown. One of Lasekan’s best-known paintings, this depiction of his friend and highly-respected contemporary is a superlative example of his 1950s portraits, clearly demonstrating the influence of his early training in textiles in the attention he pays to the detail of his sitter’s woven and embroidered chiefly attire called Agbada, adorned with a ‘Fila’ (hat) and coral beads. The ensemble is made from Aso Oke, specifically sanyan a distinctive material with crimson hues reserved for chiefs during their presentation by peers to a King or for attending court.