Alexander Skunder Boghossian

Galerie Myrtis, Baltimore, Maryland

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2014

In 1955, at the age of seventeen, Skunder Boghossian received a government scholarship to study in Europe. He began his journey in London, spending two years studying at the St. Martin's School of Art, Central School of Arts, and Slade School of Fine Art. In 1957, Boghossian moved to Paris, where he studied at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and taught at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière until 1966.During his time in Paris, Boghossian was influenced by artists such as Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Paul Klee, and Wilfredo Lam. He also immersed himself in the vibrant jazz scene, forming connections with renowned musicians like Bud Powell, Lester Young, and Sonny Rollins. Jazz would influence many of Skunder’s forthcoming works. Known to dance to jazz music whilst he painted, Skunder’s appreciation of music can be seen in the present lot’s wonderfully fluid and rhythmic composition.

In 1966, Boghossian returned to Ethiopia to teach at the School of Fine Arts in Addis Ababa. In 1969, he moved to the United States to accept a role teaching at the Atlanta Centre for Black Art before joining Howard University in 1972, where he remained until 2001. Ancient Fog was executed in 1975, just one year after the start of the war.

In many of Skunder Boghossian's significant works, including the present lot, ancient, illuminated healing scrolls from the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition play a central role. These scrolls often serve as a metaphor for the healing process of post-colonial Africa. Boghossian depicts the scrolls as a unified element in the lower half of the composition, making up the landscape beneath a hazy sun. The artist referred to the interweaving technique used to create these illuminated manuscripts as "Kulflfu," employing it to produce a richly textured surface.

During this tumultuous period, marked by independence movements sweeping across Africa, Skunder developed a unique artistic approach that would come to define his career. Although Ethiopia had largely avoided colonization, Boghossian's work reflected the broader Pan-African cultural awakening of the time. He crafted a visual language he termed "Afro-Metaphysics," blending Surrealism with cosmology and amorphic forms. This style, exemplified in the present lot, seamlessly integrated his fascination with spirituality and the metaphysical realm alongside Pan-African cultural elements and visual styles.

Recognised as one of the most highly regarded modernists from Africa, Skunder Boghossian’s work has been included in ground-breaking exhibitions globally. Boghossian was the first contemporary African artist to have his work purchased by the Musée National d ’Art Modern in 1963. Skunder’s work found equal success in the United States, the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the artist’s Juju’s Wedding in 1964. Other works reside at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem.