Modern & Contemporary African Art | and CCA Lagos Benefit Auction
Modern & Contemporary African Art | and CCA Lagos Benefit Auction
Ben Enwonwu
Margaret Mary Enwonwu and Ben Enwonwu Jnr
Lot Closed
March 22, 04:19 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Ben Enwonwu
Nigerian
1917-1994
Margaret Mary Enwonwu and Ben Enwonwu Jnr
signed and dated 1959 (lower right); inscribed Margaret Mary Enwonwu and Ben Enwonwu Jr by Ben Enwonwu
gouache on paper
48 by 70.5cm., 18¾ by 27¾in.
Estate of the Artist
Private Collection, Nigeria, acquired from the above circa 2004
Private Collection, UK
This sketch captures a tender moment between the artist, his English school teacher wife Margaret (née Bennett, 1933-1984) and their infant son Benedict Jr. A later portrait of both his sons with Margaret, Benedict Jr and his younger brother Dominic, was exhibited at the artist's major retrospective at the Mall Galleries in London in 1985 and Lagos in 1987. The present lot was completed in 1959, the same year Enwonwu returned to Nigeria as official art adviser to the federal government, following two years in London completing his Royal commission.