Benedict Chukwikadibia Enwonwu (1917 - 1994) Nigeria. Gouache on Paper. Measure 31"in H x 23"in W and 33"in H x 25"in W with frame. Ben Enwonwu (1917-1994) was the most important Nigerian modernist sculptor. Although he is said to have had his first art training under his father who was a traditional sculptor, and despite that he worked in both realistic and abstract styles, his art generally reveals an unmistakably modernist sensibility. He received his first art instruction in the 1930s while a student under the first British art teacher in colonial Nigeria, Kenneth C. Murray. But, unlike his classmates who never went beyond the naïve naturalism encouraged by Murray, he developed a sculptural language largely influenced by the work of European modernists. His later sculpture, after his training overseas and after his encounter around 1950 with the Negritude philosophy of the Paris-based Leopold Senghor and Aimé Cesaire, expressed formal rhythms he associated with African music and dance.In 1971, Ben Enwonwu, who served as the Federal Art Supervisor (1959-1968) and Federal Cultural Advisor (1968-1971), was appointed professor of fine art at the University of Ife. Freed from the official duties of the previous decade, Enwonwu’s tenure at Ife proved to be one of the most productive years in his career as an artist. While there he painted mostly southern Nigerian rural scenes, including his well-known Ututu series. In these landscapes, gigantic, gnarled tropical trees tower over village clearings in which people carry out their routine or ceremonial activities. through them Enwonwu expressed his romantic fascination for the pristine environment uncorrupted by the chaos and instability of the modern life.

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