£1.2m paid for Stern dancers

UNDERVALUED: BELIEVED TO BE WORTH UP TO £1M Two paintings by Ben Enwonwu also realised much more than their estimates.

One of South African artist Irma Stern’s landmark Zanzibar paintings, Lelemana Dancers, painted in 1945, sold for £1.2 million (about R24.76 million) at Bonhams Modern and Contemporary African Art sale in London on Tuesday. The work had been estimated at £700 000 to £1 million.

Bonhams director of African art Giles Peppiatt said: “Irma Stern witnessed a lelemana – a Swahili dance lasting several hours that often marks rites of passage – on her first visit to Zanzibar in 1939.

“It made such a big impression on her that when she returned to the island in 1945, she rekindled her interest in the subject with the wonderful results we see in

Lelemana Dancers.

“Not surprisingly, there was a lot of interest in the painting, both before and during the auction, and this was fully reflected in the high price achieved.”

Other high prices achieved include:

Hausa Boy by Ben Enwonwu (1917-1994). Enwonwu visited the north of Nigeria before and after an exhibition and lecture tour of the US in 1950. Many of the paintings and sculptures exhibited during this tour were of northern

Nigerian themes. Painted in 1949, Hausa Boy sold for £300 250 (estimate: £50 000-£80 000).

The Blue Headscarf by Enwonwu sold for £162 750 (estimate: £60 000-£90 000).

Untitled, a work from 2014 by Ivorian artist Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba (born 1983) often known simply as Aboudia sold for £72 250 (estimate: £30 000£50 000).

A further work, from 2016, by the same artist sold for £55 250 (estimate: £10 000-£15 000).

Bow Harp, by Nigerian artist Jimoh Akolo sold for £62 750 (estimate: £10 000-£15 000).

There was a lot of interest in Lelemana Dancers and this was reflected in the high price.

Giles Peppiatt Bonhams director