London – Major works by Gerard Sekoto and Ben Enwonwu smashed estimates today at Bonhams' Modern & Contemporary African Art sale in London. The top lot was Gerard Sekoto's The Artist's Brother, which achieved £406,000, 4 times its estimate of £100,000-150,000. Two works by Ben Enwonwu also achieved top results, with Agbogho Mmuo selling for £242,000 and Dance Movement for £191,000.
The 76-lot sale made a total of £1.6m with 72% sold by lot and 97% sold by value.
Helene Love-Allotey, Bonhams Head of Modern & Contemporary African Art Department, comments, "The impressive results from today's sale are testament to the strength of the current market and the popularity of some exceptional Modern and Contemporary African artists. Gerard Sekoto's The Artist's Brother is a particularly special work, and a highly sought after moment in his oeuvre before his voluntary exile from South Africa. It is unsurprising that this rare work sparked such excitement amongst collectors, and we are delighted that the results of the sale reflect the exceptional quality of the works offered."
The Artist's Brother: The painting which funded Sekoto's move to Paris and kickstarted an international career
Gerard Sekoto (South African, 1913-1993) painted The Artist's Brother while living in Eastwood, a Black dormitory suburb of Pretoria, between 1945-1947. The work offers an insight into Sekoto's early formal experimentation, as well as suggesting the interplay between tradition and modernity in contemporary African urban life.
Sekoto posed his brother with a deliberate twist in his torso, a self-imposed challenge by the artist still in the early years of his career. Surrounded by canvases, Bernard is situated in the artist's studio, another visual reminder of Sekoto's creative endeavours. He includes an African grass mat in contrast to the suburban furniture in their Eastwood home, suggesting a deliberate interplay between tradition and modernity and Sekoto's understanding that African modernity is firmly rooted in African culture.
From as early as 1939, Sekoto had aspired to work in Paris, which he believed to be the centre of the international art world in the 20th century. By 1947, the escalating racial segregation in South Africa led to the artist's voluntary political exile, a move he would self-fund with the financial success of his most recent exhibitions. This included an exhibition at Christi's Gallery Pretoria in April 1947, where he sold The Artist's Brother. By September 1947, Sekoto had left South Africa for the last time and headed to Europe, where his success only continued to grow.
Additional highlights of the sale included:
• Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff (South African, 1913-2006) Lost Orchid. Sold for £86,800
• Irma Stern (South African, 1894-1966), Old Friends. Sold for £76,600
• Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff (South African, 1913-2006) Woman of the Ndebele. Sold for £57,600
• Alexander 'Skunder' Boghossian (Ethiopian, 1937-2003), Ju Ju's Conference. Sold for £46,000, more than 4 times the pre-sale estimate
• Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff (South African, 1913-2006) Balinese Girl. Sold for £44,800
• El Anatsui (Ghanaian, born 1944) Knives III. Sold for £38,400
• Salah Elmur (Sudanese, born 1966), The White Shoes. Sold for £35,800, more than 4 times the pre-sale estimate
