CNBC Business | Out of Africa

Out of Africa

Nigeria’s heading up the march of contemporary African art, says Simon de Burton

Think Nigerian art and your mind probably turns to models of cars and trucks cleverly fashioned from old lager cans or, if you’re more clued-up, to the rare terracotta artefacts of the Nok tribe that date back as far as 2,000 years.  

Until recently, there hasn’t been much of a demand for what lies in between — but now, it seems, the market for contemporary Nigerian art is suddenly on the rise. Last December, a painting entitled Underwater Still Life by the late Benedict Enwonwu surprised even the experts when it fetched £19,200 (€21,000) at Bonhams in London, close to 20 times the high pre-sale estimate. 

At the same sale another of Enwonwu’s works, this time a depiction of a crowded market scene, also soared more than five times above estimate to realise almost £7,000 (€7,625).  

Giles Peppiatt, head of Bonhams’ watercolours department, believes such prices signal a rise in demand for Nigerian art, which, while it has yet to be fully appreciated on its home soil, is attracting considerable attention from European, American and South African buyers. 

“We have been selling Nigerian art for around three years, but it has always been included in our more wide-ranging topographical sales because the amount available has been small and the demand quite limited,” says Peppiatt. 

“In May 2008, however, we noticed that the 10-or-so lots that came under the hammer all made a bit more than expected, and then the Enwonwus came up in December and fetched these unprecedented sums. There seems to be no doubt that Nigerian works are now attracting investors who, perhaps, are looking for new genres in the face of the recent downturn in established contemporary art.” 

The result of Bonhams’ success is that the house now intends to complement its twice-yearly sales of South African art with an April auction dedicated to contemporary African art, which will include a strong field of Nigerian works. Three Enwonwu paintings will be offered, the highlight being a 1976 oil entitled Negritude – in keeping with recent successes, however, the estimate is not the €1,100–€1,650 that would have seemed appropriate this time last year. Instead, it will be €21,800–€32,700. 

Enwonwu, who studied at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art, went on to become professor of fine art at the University of Ife, south-west Nigeria, and his bronze of Queen Elizabeth can be seen today outside the House of Representatives in Lagos. He died in 1994 at the age of 73 and is undoubtedly one of the leading names on the Nigerian contemporary scene. There are, however, several others in the ascendant such as Muraina Oyelami (portraits currently fetch around €2,725), Jimoh Buraimoh and the unusually-named Prince Twins Seven-Seven. 

Born in 1944 in Ogidi Ikimu, Twins (as the artist Prince is informally known) was one of the original students of the Oshogbo School, which arose in the newly-independent Nigeria of the early 1960s. Despite examples of his work being in museums and private collections around the world, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, it can still be bought for relatively little money. As we went to press, Philadelphia-based dealer Indigo Arts had several canvases on offer in the $1,200–$6,500 (€915–€4,950) range.

Buy now before it’s too late. 

 Ones to watch — the rising stars  of contemporary African art. 

 Benedict Enwonwu - paintings and sculpture 

Romuald Hazoumé - sculpture, installations, tribal masks and photographs. 

Nnenna Okore - clay hangings, installations, photography and video 

Muraina Oyelami - oil paintings on paper 

Prince Twins Seven Seven - mosaic-like paintings 

Chief Jimoh Buraimoh - brightly-coloured, naive canvases 

* Bonhams sale of African Contemporary Art takes place  on 8 April at 101 New Bond Street, London W1.  +44 (0)20 7447 7447 