The Modern & Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art Auction, which will take place on May 1st, will feature celebrated artists and emerging talent from across Africa and the Middle East.
Baya Mahieddine (Algerian 1931-1998), L’Aube et le poisson. Gouache and watercolour on paper. Property from a Private Collection, UAE. Estimate: £10,000-£15,000
Since May 2023, Olympia Auctions has been delighted to sell quality works by artists in Africa and the Middle East via dedicated sales run by highly regarded expert Janet Rady. Its May auction, the first of 2024, continues the tradition with seventy-seven exceptional works by artists such as Ablade Glover from Ghana, Hendrick Lilanga from Tanzania, Muraina Oyelami from Nigeria, Kagiso Patrick Mautloa from South Africa. In addition, the sale comprises works by distinguished female artists Malika Agueznay from Morocco and Baya Mahieddine, Algeria. Paintings by Seif Wanly, Kamal Youssef from Egypt, and Dia Al Azzawi, British/Iraqi, are also highlighted. Estimates range from £200 – £15,000.
Muraina Oyelami (Nigerian B.1940), Extended Family II. Signed and dated MURAINA / OYELAMI 1980; titled EXTENDED FAMILY II lower right. Oil on board. Property from a Private Collection, UK. Estimate: £1,000 – £1,500
Muraina Oyelmai (b. 1940) is a renowned Nigerian artist and musician who has exhibited worldwide. He is known for his vibrant and colourful paintings that draw inspiration from Yoruba culture, mythology and spirituality. Two of his paintings feature in the auction. The distinctive work of Ghanaian artist Ablade Glover (b. 1934) is also featured in the sale. His pictures encapsulate the markets, landscapes and urban spaces of Ghana. He has international renown, having worked in the Imperial Palace Collection of Japan and the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Kagiso Patrick Mautloa (South African B.1952), Untitled. Photocollage with oil, laid on canvas. Estimate: £3,000 – £5,000
Kagiso Patrick Mautloa (b. 1952), who lives and works in Johannesburg, is known for being one of the pioneers of modernist painting in South Africa. He works mainly in painting, drawing, and printmaking but often finds inspiration in Johannesburg’s urban culture’s refuse and discarded objects. Mautloa says that his works are ‘observations of objects found on the vibrant streets in the city, not only for their visual qualities but as [a] repository of our quotidian practice.’
Malika Aqueznay (Moroccan B.1938), Untitled. Signed and dated Malika agueznay / 2020 lower right. Oil on canvas. Provenance, Acquired from So Art Gallery, Casablanca. Estimate: £9,000 – £12,000
Female Moroccan artist Malika Agueznay (b. 1938) attended the Casablanca School of Fine Arts, which Farid Belkahia then directed. She is a modernist abstract artist who has elaborated on seaweed as a motif in her art, evocative of a feminine perspective that she has embraced. Examples of her work are currently also on view at the Sharjah Art Foundation as part of their Casablanca Art School exhibition, titled ‘The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde (1962–1987)’.
Another female artist, Baya Mahieddine (1931-1998), from Algeria, brings an exuberant use of colour and pattern to her work and inventive depictions of human figures, animals, and floral motifs. Her work ‘L’aube et le poisson’ is estimated at £10,000 – £15,000. (See first image of the post)
Egyptian art is well represented in the sale; among the highlights is a work by Seif Wanly (1906-1979), who is known for his depictions of Egyptian street life, including entertainers and performers, as well as abstract Still Lifes influenced by Cubism such as ‘Untitled’, estimate: £6,500 – £8,500. He and his brother Adham Wanly were pioneers in introducing modern pictorial trends to Alexandria, depicting international subjects, and moving away from the folklorist style of their contemporaries.
Another Egyptian artist, Kamal Youssef, underwent rigorous training during his teenage years under several prominent artists known for their engagement with Egyptian Surrealism. In 1939, he joined the Art and Liberty Group, one of the most distinguished art movements of the time. In 1946, he was a founding member of the Contemporary Art Group and played a crucial role in developing Egypt’s modern art movement. After the 1952 revolution, Youssef made his home in Paris before moving to the US, where he worked as an engineer for 20 years. He has two works in the auction ‘Tradition’ and ‘Bird Family’, both oil on canvas.
Dia Al Azzawi (British / Iraqi B.1939), Al-Jawahiri Verses. Signed, stamped and dated Azzawi 1989 lower right; numbered 71/89 lower left. Hand coloured lithograph on Velin Cuve BFK Rives Blanc mould-made 250gsm paper. Estimate: £900 – £1,200
British Iraqi artist Dia Al Azzawi (b. 1939) is one of the pioneers of modern Arab art. He is well known for incorporating Arabic script into his paintings. He founded the Iraqi art group New Vision in 1969 and has inspired a generation of young calligraffiti artists.
After 1983, Al-Azzawi returned to earlier motifs like colour through the form of the Arabic letter and the influences of classic literature such as One Thousand and One Nights but through the medium of prints. Al-Azzawi continued to explore the convergence of visuals and the written word by producing dafatir, or artists’ books, which reflected the poetry of the great Arab poets. Beginning in 1989, Al-Azzawi produced over 40 dafati, and it became a place for him to reflect on political events such as the start of the Gulf War in 1991. See ‘Al-Jawahiri Verses’, painted in 1989, pictured left.
LIVE AUCTION: 1st May at 12:00pm
VIEWING TIMES:
- Sunday 28th April, 12pm to 4pm
- Monday 29th April, 10am to 8pm
- Tuesday 30th April, 10am to 5pm
To view the Auction Catalogue click here. For more information, please visit Olympia Auctions.
