Lot 16: Uzo Egonu (Nigerian, 1931-1996) Exodus

Exodus
signed 'Egonu' and dated '70' (upper left)
oil on canvas
107 x 142.5cm (42 1/8 x 56 1/8in).

Literature:
O. Oguibe, Uzu Egonu: An African artist in the West, (London, 1995), illustrated pgs. 35 & 65.

Born in the city of Onitsha, Uzo Egonu was considered a child artistic prodigy, and his father, a progressive Chieftain and local administrator, sent him to Britain at the age of 13 to study art. He studied at the Camberwell School of Fine Arts and Crafts and St Martin’s School of Art in the 1950s. Such early separation from his parents and homeland undoubtedly left the artist with a deep nostalgia for his homeland, its people and its folklore.

In the mid-1960s, Egonu introduced the most exciting aspects of his best-known work; unique devices such as circular composition and bird's eye views. This we find most conspicuously in the 'Protection' series, and in the above painting, Exodus, in particular. These devices, which were viewed as innovative and modernist at the time, are in fact characteristics of Ibo artistic traditions. Egonu's art thus challenges Western myths of the naïve African artists, and credits Africa as the crucible of modernism.

Egonu's work embraces universal themes of displacement, post colonialism, and Diaspora, as well as the realities of urban life. The impact of the Biafran War also came through in his work: in Exodus, Egonu explores the consequences of global conflict, and reflected his agony over horrific events at home in Nigeria. In this work he expresses the struggles and hopes of dispossessed people by using bold, figurative, and combine exquisite patterning with strong colours.

In 1983, Egonu joined the likes of Miro and Picasso as Honorary Life Councillor for U.N.E.S.C.O. in 1983.