Portrait of an African Man

Aina Onabolu was born on the 13th of September, 1882 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state in Nigeria, to Jacob Onabolu, a successful Ijebu merchant, and Oshunjente Onabolu, a trader. He started his primary education at St. Saviour Primary School, Ijebu-Ode in 1892. At this period of his life, he had begun to develop a strong passion for art and practiced by imitating photographs and illustrations in European magazines and books. Onabolu had become a skilled illustrator who designed charts and visual aids for school teachers at the age of 12.One of his notable portraits titled “Mrs. Spencer Savage”, done in 1906, is lauded as one the earliest outstanding works of art produced with modern techniques. He was the first Nigerian artist to receive formal art education/training from Europe. He first studied art at Académie Julian in Paris, before proceeding to the Royal academy of art in London where he obtained his certificate of proficiency in oil painting and fine art between 1920 and 1922. He is generally considered the father of modernism in Nigerian art and was instrumental in inviting the British educator, Kenneth Murray, to Nigeria to teach art. In 2018, Aina Onabolu was inducted posthumously into the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) Hall of Fame for his distinguished service to the nation and his immense contribution to the development of modern art and the teaching and practice of art in Nigeria.

Portrait of an African Man is a classic Onabolu painting of a man dressed to the nine for an occasion. This painting, like every other Onabolu piece, personifies his philosophy of realism. It is the full body image of a tall and slender, dark-skinned, middle aged man in three quarter pose, gaining balance from what seems to be the easel of a donkey bench. Obviously African, he is garbed in formal, intricately embroidered and free flowing African (Yoruba) attire, popularly known as “agbada”, probably sewn from the popular Yoruba textile, “Aso Oke”, which, at the time, was reserved for the affluent in the society. He also holds what is like a folded piece of paper, or an elephant tusk, which is usually held by African royalty.