The second rediscovered version of Ben Enwonwu‘s famous painting “Tutu” on Thursday, sold for an impressive £320,750 at Bonhams‘ Africa Now sale.
Nine of Enwonwu’s paintings made the top 10 slot for the 121-lot sale which achieved £1,802,625.
Tutu is a 1974 painting of Princess Adetutu Ademiluyi, an Ife royalty.
The first version, which was discovered at a London home after going missing for decades, was auctioned for £1.2 million in February this year.
Enwonwu is said to have made three versions of the iconic painting.
Works by Congolese artists Freddy Tsimba and Patrick Bongoy also performed well. Tsimba’s Centre fermé, rêve ouvert, achieved £12,500 and Patrick Bongoy’s, Revenants III, sold for £12,500.
Other top lots include:
- Rhapsody in Blue, by Ben Enwonwu sold for £112,500 (estimate £60,000-90,000).
- Enwonwu’s Ogolo, signed and dated 1992 sold for £112,500 (estimate £100,000-150,000).
- Leonce Raphael Agbodjelou (Benin, born 1965) Untitled triptych, ‘Demoiselles de Porto-Novo’ series more than doubled its estimate and sold for £37,500 (estimate £12,000 – 18,000).
- Demas Nwoko’s Rickshaw Ride, sold for £81,250. (estimate £60,000-90,000).
- Works by Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, performed well with Untitled, 2016, achieving £ 25,000 (estimate £10,000-15,000) and ‘Gri Gri II’ (2016) £32,500 (estimate £18,000-25,000).
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