The Modernist Implantation in Nigeria:

Aina Onabolu and Kenneth D. Murray

Map of Nigeria depicting the various ancient cultures

Head,2500-800 BP(500BC-200AD)Nok CultureTerracotta

Stylized naturalism

Triton shell, Igbo Ukwu, Leaded bronze, 1100BP (900 AD)Skeumorphic representations

Roped Vessel on a stand,Igbo Ukwu,Leaded bronze,1100 BP (900AD)

Head of an Ooni(used in annual ritual of renewal)Ife, (Yoruba) NigeriaLeaded Brass (Zinc brass)800-500 BP

Idealized naturalism; youthfulnessephebism

Figure of an Ooni in ceremonial regaliaIfe (Yoruba) NigeriaLeaded Brass—Zinc Brass800-500 BP

Emotional proportion

Head of a ritual specialist,Ife (Yoruba) NigeriaTerracotta700-500 BP

Inner/outer beauty; functionality

Ogboni CoupleIjebu YorubaBrass19th century

Symbiotic relationship; umbilical chord

Osugbo Doors,Ijebu YorubaWood, 19th/20th century

Visual metaphorsof Power

Warrior Chiefs, Benin, Bronze Plaque, 400-300 B.P, 18.7/8 in

Social and emotional proportion

Palace Messenger,Middle Period,BeninBronze, 25 in.

Portuguese Soldier,Plaque Period,BeninBronze

British Marines amidst theirLoot from the Punitive ExpeditionOf 1897, Benin.

Modernism within the province of European artFrom 19th-20th century

Modernity; newness; freshness; change; industrialization; disruption

Modernist transplantation in Africa—new idiom; easel painting

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselle d’Avignon, oil on canvas, 1907

Epa, Yoruba, NigeriaWood, pigments20th century

Painting the head of an infantIn the ritual of “knowing the inner head”

Orisa Priestess with painted forehead

Sacred painting on the façade of a shrine in Ayegunle-Ekiti, Nigeria

Oluorogbo shrine paintingIle Ife, Nigeria

Uli shrine wall at Nri, Igbo, Nigeria

Aina OnaboluBarristerOil on canvas1920s

Aina Onabolu,Portrait of a ManWatercolor on Board1955

Joshua Johnson—Portrait of a Gentleman, oil on canvas, c. 1805-1810 Supposedly Rev. Daniel Coker of the AME; limner tradition

Joshua Johnson, “In the Garden” Oil on canvas, c. 1830?

The Limner Tradition Commissioned Portraits

Status -characteristically flat, plain or dark background

With little attention to details Subtle modulation of tones

-Liner approach connected to British/Dutch tradition Frontal Approach/frontally placed—looks directly at the audience

Flowing drapery, ¾ view Proportions contradicts the academic canon of ratio 1:7