London, 19 March 2026 - Bonhams Modern & Contemporary African Art sale, will take place at New Bond Street on 19 March 2026. The auction will be led by important works by William Kentridge presented alongside a group of notable still lifes by the celebrated female South African artist Irma Stern, as well as pieces by Lisa Brice and key Nigerian modernists Ben Enwonwu and Uzo Egonu. The sale coincides with a historic moment in UK, Nigeria relations, as the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu undertake the first Nigerian state visit to the United Kingdom in 37 years.
Giles Peppiatt, Group Head of Fine Art, UK commented: "This season's sale brings together landmark works from South Africa and Nigeria, two nations whose artistic traditions have shaped the course of modern and contemporary African art. From Irma Stern's foundational still lifes and William Kentridge's incisive political drawings to the refined modernism of Enwonwu and Egonu, the auction highlights the extraordinary range and depth of creative achievement across both countries. The timing of this sale is particularly meaningful, coinciding with a moment of renewed cultural connection between the UK and Nigeria during the country's first state visit to Britain in nearly four decades."
At the forefront of the auction is William Kentridge's (South African, born 1955) Negotiations Minuet, estimated at £200,000 to 300,000. The drawing brings together four principal figures that recur throughout the artist's work of the late 1980s. Despite its title, no formal negotiations were underway in South Africa at the time; 1989 was a year of profound upheaval. In August, P.W. Botha was succeeded by F.W. de Klerk, who, faced with mounting political and economic pressure, began dismantling apartheid's legislative foundations. In the following year he unbanned the African National Congress and released Nelson Mandela, leading ultimately to the repeal of the core apartheid acts in 1991 and the initiation of negotiations with the ANC and other political parties. The work's original title, Fused into a Particularly South African Riddle, underscored the volatility and interdependence that characterised labor and political relations during this period. The piece was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2022. Also Included from Kentridge is Monument from Mango Groove's 'Another Country' estimated at £100,000 to 150,000.
The sale also features two exceptional still lifes by Irma Stern (South African, 1894 to 1966). Dahlias, estimated at £300,000 to 500,000, was first exhibited at the Criterion Restaurant Ballroom in Johannesburg between 20 May and 1 June 1935. The painting marks Stern's first monumental exploration of floral subjects composed explicitly through color relationships. Moving beyond descriptive color, she devised harmonies that express emotional intensity while defining form. These early flower pieces signal her emergence as one of South Africa's most accomplished colourists.
Stern's Still Life with Calla Lilies and Fruit, estimated at £200,000 to 300,000, is dated 1933 and reflects the artist's experimentation during the early 1930s with modelling three dimensional surfaces, creating luminosity through color, and unifying pictorial space. This period, influenced profoundly by Cezanne, demonstrates Stern's increasing command of form and chromatic structure.
Two works by Lisa Brice (South African, born 1968) also appear in the sale. A (Vertical) (2005), estimated at £100,000 to 150,000, is presented alongside Walk Easy, estimated at £50,000 to 80,000. Created during Brice's residency at Gasworks in London from 1998, Walk Easy stands apart within her oeuvre. Comprising six hand embroidered fabric panels suspended from steel rods, the work reflects her ongoing engagement with narratives of crime in South Africa and reinterprets imagery drawn from an advertisement for "Walk Easy" defence spray. The piece demonstrates Brice's distinctive ability to move fluidly between mediums and spatial forms.
From the post war avant garde, Christo Coetzee (South African, 1929 to 2000) is represented by Japan 120M (Osaka series), 1959 (unframed), estimated at £15,000 to 20,000. In this work, Coetzee disrupts the traditional boundary between artist, canvas and viewer, extending his practice into a realm of poetic and cross cultural mysticism.
The auction also includes an important group of works by leading Nigerian modernists, presented at a moment of renewed cultural and diplomatic connection between the UK and Nigeria. Among them is Uzo Egonu's (Nigerian, 1931 to 1996) Man with Glass of Beer, estimated at £60,000 to 90,000. Born in Nigeria and relocating to England in 1945, Egonu studied at Camberwell School of Art and St Martin's School of Art. This work forms part of a broader series from the late 1970s in which he explored the habits and gestures of everyday life, transforming ordinary moments into structured, semi abstract compositions.
Completing the Nigerian highlights is Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917 to 1994) with Africa Dances (oil, 1975), estimated at £30,000 to 50,000, a significant work that reflects Enwonwu's sustained interest in the expressive possibilities of dance and its role within modern Nigerian artistic identity.
(Press Release)
