By Nii B. Andrews.
While he was serving as US Ambassador to Nigeria from 1964 until 1969, Elbert G. Mathews acquired a painting by the eminent female Nigerian modernist Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu (1921-1996) who left an indelible mark on the artistic and cultural landscape of her country.
The painting, DANCERS, was in a semi abstract style featuring figures in sharp angular geometric shapes infused with a dynamism that transmitted the strength and poise of the paired figures; the color palette was vibrant and rich.
The central trapezoid in subtle mauves and flanked in white within which the one arm of each dancer is crossed with the other dancer’s arm is pregnant with meaning and could provide for reams of speculation.
The work echoed the style of Ugbodaga-Ngu as it had evolved from earlier pieces such as MARKET WOMEN (1961), BEGGARS (1963) and MAN AND BIRD from the same year.
Within the historical context of the period, Ugbodaga-Ngu was a rebel for she was defiant in adopting the language of Modernism in portraying scenes from everyday Nigerian life and communicating messages that transcended the perceived material conditions of the early post colonial period.
An awareness and careful study of her body of work will disrupt the received conventional messages of art history with its perhaps unintentional colonial and patriarchal assumptions especially with respect to female African artists and their contributions to the portfolio of Modernism.
Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu made a seminal contribution to Nigeria’s art history; she was the first Nigerian and female teacher in the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria (NCAST), and taught the students who went on to form the Zaria Art Society, popularly described as the ‘Zaria rebels’, who rejected European modes of art production and strove to develop a unique hybrid art-making practice.
She noted with uncanny accuracy that, “The majority of young men who were my students are Nigeria’s main source of manpower in institutions of higher learning, museums, industries and the private sector”.
The colonial administration provided a scholarship for her to study art at the Chelsea School of Art followed by formal teacher training at the London Institute of Education; it was on her return that she was appointed to NCAST.
She chalked another first when in 1958, she became the first Nigerian female artist to have a solo exhibition at Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London.
At FESTAC’ 77, she was among the 7 female artists out of a field of 63.
No work by Clara Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu has ever appeared at auction; her paintings are extremely rare.
For the first time ever a painting by her – DANCERS, will be auctioned at Bonhams London on March 9 as part of the Modern and Contemporary African art sale.
The presale estimate is USD 27 000 – 40 000. Happy Bidding!