Bonhams Brings Best Collection of Nigerian Art to Market

Corporate art collecting goes in and out of favor in the West. Currently, it is out of fashion as passion for the CEO. Not so Nigeria where Afren built up a collection of West African artists that must now be sold to satisfy the bankrupt firm’s debts. (Maybe that’s why art collecting by corporations has gone out of favor in the west?) Here’s the FT on the sale:

Executives at AlixPartners, which is in charge of unwinding Afren, are looking to sell nearly 100 pieces of art by some of Africa’s most celebrated modern artists.

Bonhams, which is conducting the sale, described it as the best collection of Nigerian art to have come on to the market for several years. The pieces being sold include a series of vivid abstract paintings by the Ghanaian painter Ablade Glover, as well as pieces by celebrated Nigerian artists Alex Nwokolo and Muraina Oyelami.The auctioneers said: “The company acquired a number of wonderful pieces; they were ably advised and there has not been a better collection of modern Nigerian art come to the market in recent years.”

Afren’s fall brings top African art to market (FT.com)