Alexander Skunder Boghossian (Ethiopian, 1937-2003)


Sacred text signed and dated 'SKUNDER 68' (lower right)oil and paper collage on board 56 x 62cm (22 1/16 x 24 7/16in).
|ProvenanceA private collection, USA. Alexander 'Skunder' Boghossian's artistic talents were recognised early. Aged only 17, he was awarded second prize at the prestigious Jubilee Anniversary Celebration of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Skunder left for Europe shortly afterwards, having received a scholarship from the Ethiopian government. He spent the next two years in London, studying at St. Martins School, Central School and the Slade School of Fine Art. He then moved to Paris where he taught at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, and the atelier of Alberto Giacometti. He returned to Ethiopia in 1966, where he took up a teaching post at the Fine Arts School in Addis Ababa, where the present lot was executed.Boghossian was the first African artist to have a work purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as being the first African commissioned by the World Federation of the United Nations Association to design a First Day Cover for a United Nations stamp.