Arthouse Contemporary, West Africa’s premiere auction house, is pleased to announce the results of the sixteenth edition of its auction of Modern and Contemporary Art on May 9, 2016, at the Wheatbaker Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. Featuring 98 lots from leading modern and contemporary artists, the auction bought in a total of N176,524,500 ($882,623) during the evening’s sale, with 69% of the lots sold.
The top sale of the evening included Ben Enwonwu’s Obitun Dancers, an oil on canvas from 1990 that sold for N52,900,000 ($264,400), setting a record for a sale of Enwonwu’s work in Nigeria. Other leading sales of the evening included Yusuf Grillo’s Threatened Innocence, an oil on board from 1999-2002, that sold for N18,400,000 ($92,000), Ben Enwonwu’s African Dance Ensemble (1960), selling for N9,200,000 ($46,000), Ben Enwonwu’s Haze (1972), selling for N9,200,000 ($46,000), and Amon Kotei’s Untitled (2005), selling for N4,600,000 ($23,000). This edition of the auction also featured charity lots by Uchay Joel Chima, Obinna Makata, and Lekan Onabanjo, raising NGN 1,150,000 ($5,750) for Standard Chartered Bank’s Seeing is Believing, which aims to tackle avoidable blindness. Arthouse Contemporary’s auction was proudly sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank, Wheatbaker Hotel, and Veuve Clicquot. The auction was led by noted auctioneer John Dabney.
Founded in 2007, Arthouse Contemporary is an international auction house that specialises in modern and contemporary art from West Africa. With auctions held twice a year in Lagos, Arthouse Contemporary aims to create awareness of the scope of contemporary art in the region, encourage international recognition towards its talented artists, and strengthen the economy of its art market. The seventeenth edition of the Arthouse Contemporary auction will take place on November 21, 2016 at the Wheatbaker Hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos. For more information, please contact Sumbo Biobaku at 08055099096.