The Long Lost Painting Known as Africa’s Mona Lisa has Sold for a Record Price
- 2018-03-01
- Quartz Africa
Tutu, the iconic Nigerian portrait that was lost for decades, has sold for a record £1,205,000 (about $1.68 million)—more than four times the highest estimate.
The portrait of the Ife royal Princess Adetutu Ademiluyi, was missing for more than twenty years until it was discovered in a London flat last year. The painting is one of three depictions of the princess painted in 1973, which became a symbol of Nigerian reconciliation after the war for Biafran independence. Enwonwu is perhaps Nigeria's most renowned contemporary artist, but his famous painting is believed to have disappeared from his studio in 1994.