LONDON.- Bonhams “Africa Now – Contemporary Africa” auction on 15th October will be the first sale by any international auctioneer to be held in London that is solely focused on this new and vibrant market.

Awareness of Contemporary African Art has grown faster in recent years than in any other field, and the auction house is expecting strong interest in the sale. Bonhams already holds many world records at auction for works by Contemporary African artists. The auction will take place in the same week as the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House and also the Frieze Art Fair.

The sale features work by the most of the continent’s major contemporary artists including El Anatsui, Chéri Samba, Maïmouna Guerresi and Barthélémy Toguo.

Ghana-born, Nigeria-based artist El Anatsui (b 1944) leads the sale with two wooden sculptures, Al Haji (estimated at £100,000-150,000) and The Pilgrims (£30,000-50,000). Long regarded as the leading contemporary artist in Africa, El Anatsui has become globally renowned with exhibitions at the 2007 Venice Biennale, New York’s Brooklyn Museum and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2013.

The work of Chéri Samba (b 1958) is inspired by the billboards round his adopted city of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A former sign-painter for an advertising agency, Samba has developed his own large-scale, vivid paintings, easily seen from a distance, of which J’aime la couleur, estimated at £25,000-30,000, is a perfect example.

The print triptych Mohamed and Daughters by Maïmouna Guerresi (b 1951) is estimated at £12,000-18,000. The work of this Italian feminist artist was profoundly transformed in 1991 when she found artistic inspiration in the mystical tradition of West African Islam after her marriage to a member of the Senegalese Murid community.

The childhood of the Mozambican sculptor Gonçalo Mabunda (b 1975) was scarred by the country’s civil war and this is echoed in pieces he has made from decommissioned weapons of which WeaponThrone is offered in the sale with an estimate of £7,000-10,000.

The sale also includes works by Cameroon-born Barthélémy Toguo (b 1967) who trained in Côte d'Ivoire before studying in France and Germany. His watercolour You Are Not Supposed to Park Here (estimated at £10,000-15,000) is, like much of Toguo's work, informed by the global flow of people and capital.

Commenting on the sale, Giles Peppiatt, Bonhams Director of Contemporary African Art, said, “Contemporary African painting and sculpture is currently among the most exciting and dynamic areas of world art and artists such as El Anatsui and Cheri Samba are internationally renowned.”

About Bonhams “Africa Now” sales:
·Bonhams “Africa Now” sales began in 2009 and were the only sales in London devoted exclusively to African art. After six years and due to the success of the auctions Bonhams split the sale into a Modern auction in May and a Contemporary auction in October.

World Records achieved:
·2011 South African artist Irma Stern’s” Arab Priest “sold for £3.04 million.

·2012 Ghanaian artist El Anatsui’s “New World Map” sold for £550,000

·2013 Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu’s “Mirror Sculptures” sold for £360,000

·2014 Nigerian artist Yusuf Grillo’s “Woman with Gele” sold for £81,000