Prof. Uche Okeke (Nigerian, 1933-2016)19 works on paper:
1. Portrait of Oga, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke/ 65' (lower right), pen on paper, 31 x 11cm

2. The Unknown Brute, ink on paper, 14.5 x 21cm

3. Village Square at Moonshine, ink on paper, 22.5 x 14.5cm

4. Beast Savanah Country, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke/ 59' (lower left), charcoal on paper, 22.5 x 18cm

5. Moonlight, signed and dated 'Uche 1962' (lower left), ink on paper, 25 x 19cm

6. The Oracle of Gwong, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke/ '61' (lower right), linocut, A/P5, 15 x 10cm (plate)

7. Portrait of a man in profile, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke/ 16th August '59' (lower left), charcoal, 23.5 x 16cm

8. Man with Beard, signed and dated 'Uche '62' (lower right), ink on paper, 28 x 21cm

9. Alusi with Hat, initialled and dated 'UO/ 72' (lower left), charcoal, 25 x 35.5cm

10. Beastly figure, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke '64' (lower right), ink on paper, 32 x 29cm

11. Sofon Soja, charcoal, 37.5 x 27cm

12. Forest, initialled 'UO' (lower right), watercolour, 28 x 42.5cm

13. Refugee Family, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke 66' (lower right), artist's proof 1/5, linotype, 40.3 x 30.3cm (plate)

14. Baptism I, initialled 'UO' (lower left), linocut, 31 x 23cm (plate)

15. Flower Garden, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke 1972' (lower right), artist's proof 5, linocut, 40 x 32cm

16. Izu Market Days, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke 72' (lower right), artist proof 1, linotype, 40 x 41 (plate)

17. Portrait of a man wearing a fez, pencil on paper, 40 x 28.5cm

18. Aro, the Second Moon, signed and dated 'Uche Okeke 1972' (lower right), Artist's Proof 2, linotype, 41 x 40.5cm (plate)

19. Woman tearing her hair, signed 'Uche' (lower left), ink on paper, 60 x 42.5cm

(19)注脚Born in Nigeria in 1933, Uche Okeke was a founding member of the Zaria Art Society, a group of academically trained experimental artists who synthesized Western media such as oil paint, pastel, pen and ink, with African content.

Okeke spent the majority of his career in Africa, teaching until the late 1980s at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. The result is art that, without looking specifically ethnic, is thoroughly and consciously African in its references.

This array of works on paper date from the late 1950s, when Okeke was still at art school, right through to the mid 1970s. The collection demonstrates the artist's versatility, including watercolor landscape sketches, fantastical ink drawings derived from folklore, and portraits that incorporate elements of ancient Nigerian Nok sculpture.

Diverse in medium, the works all display Okeke's characteristic curvilinear abstract patterns. This aesthetic was heavily inspired by the long tradition of Igbo body painting in Southern Nigeria.