
Ben Enwonwu
The Making of an African Modernist
Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie(Author)
University of Rochester Press
Published on 7. January 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
332 pages
978-1-64825-106-1 (ISBN)
Description
Winner - African Studies Association's 2009 Melville J. Herskovits Award
An intellectual biography of a modern African artist and his immense contribution to twentieth-century art history.
The history of world art has long neglected the work of modern African artists and their search for forms of modernist expression as either irrelevant to the discourse of modern art or as fundamentally subservient to the established narrative of Western European modernist practice. With this engaging new volume, Sylvester Ogbechie refutes this approach by examining the life and work of Ben Enwonwu (1917-94), a premier African modernist and pioneer whose career opened the way for the postcolonial proliferation and increased visibility of African art.
In the decades between Enwonwu's birth and death, modernization produced new political structures and new forms of expression in African cultures, inspiring important developments in modern African art. Within this context, Ogbechie evaluates important issues such as the role of Anglo-Nigerian colonial culture in the development of modern Nigerian art, and Enwonwu's involvement with international discourses of modernism in Europe, Africa, and the United States over a period of five decades. The author also interrogates Enwonwu's use of the radical politics of Negritude ideology to define modern African art against canonical interpretations of Euro-modernism; and the artist's visual and critical contributions to Pan Africanism, Nigerian nationalism, and postcolonial interpretations of African modernity.
First and foremost an intellectual biography of Ben Enwonwu as a modern African artist, rather than an exhaustive critical exploration of the discourse of modernism in African art history or in modern art in general, Ben Enwonwu situates the artist historically and interprets his work in ways that surpass traditional discourse around the canon of modern art.
An intellectual biography of a modern African artist and his immense contribution to twentieth-century art history.
The history of world art has long neglected the work of modern African artists and their search for forms of modernist expression as either irrelevant to the discourse of modern art or as fundamentally subservient to the established narrative of Western European modernist practice. With this engaging new volume, Sylvester Ogbechie refutes this approach by examining the life and work of Ben Enwonwu (1917-94), a premier African modernist and pioneer whose career opened the way for the postcolonial proliferation and increased visibility of African art.
In the decades between Enwonwu's birth and death, modernization produced new political structures and new forms of expression in African cultures, inspiring important developments in modern African art. Within this context, Ogbechie evaluates important issues such as the role of Anglo-Nigerian colonial culture in the development of modern Nigerian art, and Enwonwu's involvement with international discourses of modernism in Europe, Africa, and the United States over a period of five decades. The author also interrogates Enwonwu's use of the radical politics of Negritude ideology to define modern African art against canonical interpretations of Euro-modernism; and the artist's visual and critical contributions to Pan Africanism, Nigerian nationalism, and postcolonial interpretations of African modernity.
First and foremost an intellectual biography of Ben Enwonwu as a modern African artist, rather than an exhaustive critical exploration of the discourse of modernism in African art history or in modern art in general, Ben Enwonwu situates the artist historically and interprets his work in ways that surpass traditional discourse around the canon of modern art.
Reviews / Votes
A landmark work. The scholarship is superb. [.] The book is a seminal work that will stimulate numerous dissertations and monographs on modern African art and artists. * H-NET REVIEWS, April 2010 * Artist Ben Enwonwu, Nigeria's pioneering modernist, straddled the colonial and postcolonial eras, attempting to balance competing constituencies: the colonial establishment that supported him, the younger generation of artists who followed him, and his own creative and political needs. Deeply influenced and inspired by Igbo aesthetics and philosophy, Enwonwu repeatedly turned to the vigorous imagery of Igbo masquerades and dancers. Ogbechie's examination of Enwonwu's life and work challenges Eurocentric neglect of African modernists. Here was an artist who achieved international acclaim early in his career, received a royal commission for a statue of Queen Elizabeth II, became art advisor to the Nigerian government, befriended Leopold Senghor, and espoused Negritude. Clearly, this is an essential book for anyone interested in African art and modernism. -- -- Janet L. Stanley, Warren M. Robbins Library, National Museum of African Art An absorbing and critically informed account of the career of a major African modernist. In turn lionized and ignored in British and American art circles, Enwonwu's career serves as a primer on the West's reluctance to accept the validity of African modernisms on their own terms. -- -- Sidney L. Kasfir, Department of Art History, Emory University The scholarship is superb...a seminal work that will stimulate numerous dissertations and monographs on modern African art and artists. * H-NET *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Rochester
United States
Publishing group
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
9 colour and 51 b/w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
485 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64825-106-1 (9781648251061)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
12/2008
University of Rochester Press
€131.50
Article not available at the moment
Person
SYLVESTER OKWUNODU OGBECHIE is Professor of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of California Santa Barbara.
Content
1. Making Man: Aesthetics and the Mythic Imagination
2. Making Meaning: Foundations of a Personal Aesthetic
3. Making a Life: Civil Service and Professional Practice
4. Making Ideals: The Aesthetics of Radical Politics
5. Making Peace: Sins of the Father
6. Making History: The Cultural Politics of African Modernity
2. Making Meaning: Foundations of a Personal Aesthetic
3. Making a Life: Civil Service and Professional Practice
4. Making Ideals: The Aesthetics of Radical Politics
5. Making Peace: Sins of the Father
6. Making History: The Cultural Politics of African Modernity