THE MAN WHO WAS AN INSTRUMENT TO WHAT I AM TODAY.
AN ASSIGNMENT TITLED HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF PAINTING (FINA841)
Early life and education
Chief Aina Onabolu was the first Nigerian artist and
he had no formal training in art at the beginning of his career. He was born in Ijebu-Ode in 1882.
His father was a successful merchant and his mother was
also a trader. Adedoyin,O.Y.
(2016) He started painting
at the early age of 12, inspired by the cheap re-produced illustrations of
Western arts which were prominent in many Nigerian magazines and religious
books. By the age of 32, he was able to exhibit his own works and was quite
popular as a knowledgeable and skilled artist. He later travelled abroad to
study art at Académie Julian in Paris and at a school in London; before his
sojourn abroad, he was already a competent and self-taught draftsman. He
completed his studies with a diploma in fine arts and a teacher's certificate
from St. John Woods College, London in 1922.
His philosophical belief
“Aina
Onabolu is credited for his philosophical belief that art as a universal human
language goes beyond ethnic and cultural barriers. Art appreciation transcends
national boundaries, race, colour, tribe and cultures. Every art conscious
person appreciates quality artistic illustration irrespective of its origin or
what it represents. It is therefore no wonder that people spend hugely in
collecting different forms of art from different parts of the world. Art therefore,
whether plastic or performing, have come to form the core of identification and
expression for many people of different nationalities”. OKEY OBIOZO (July 2013)
His
Career
In 1909, when the colonial government in Nigeria
took control of formal education, the curriculum in the schools was geared
towards the provision of suitable education to train clerk position clerks for
the colonial Administration government administration. Little was thought of
arts education in secondary education until a report recommended the teaching
of native indigenous hand craft. Prior to the report, Onabolu had formally
presented requests for the introduction of modern arts education in secondary
schools but his option was rejected by the colonial education officers During the time, there were implicit
suggestions by the colonial officers that the natural limits of Africans was in
pottery and craft.
Onabolu's return from St John Woods, London, in
1922 and Julians academy in paris and his acquired knowledge of the European
technique of painting, anatomy and the characteristics of European art
education coincided with a new perspective on introducing indigenous art
education in the country. Onabolu, who had taught informally to
enthusiastic students began teaching in a few top schools in Lagos such as
King's College, Lagos and CMS Grammar School, Lagos. His themes dealt primarily
with the science of perspective, drawing and human proportions and watercolor
painting. Though there were few teachers on western techniques in art,
Onabolu's period started the separation of art and life.
Onabolu also encouraged the adoption of European
teachers in art instruction in the country. His effort led to the hiring of a
foreign art teacher named Kenneth Murray. Murray led a gradual re-awakening of
traditional handicraft and arts. Odiboh etal (1990) The new
approach of promoting indigenous African arts and staying within the native
repository of knowledge in traditional African arts was introduced into the
curriculum of various secondary schools in the country. The efforts of the new
instructor yielded early dividends, as the number of Nigerian art instructors
increased and knowledge of traditional works such as the Uli body and wall
became more pronounced. However, Murray's effort meant little in the long run
as the country was in the midst of a colonial and Western government which
introduced its own way or life, leading to a gradual shift in the society from
traditional to a Western culture.
His
Works
Onabolu's major art works were
portraits. His portrait of Mrs Spencer Savage in 1906 is sometimes credited as
one of the earliest outstanding work of art that used a western and modern
style and technique. Another major work of his was the portrait of Mr Randle. The latter was
his mentor who got his attention on the deleterious characteristics of
colonialism which was accentuated with a segregationist governor in the person
of Walter Egerton. Several of his portraits are held in the National Gallery of
Modern Art, Lagos.
The major figures in his work were Lagos elites who
were successful professionals in their field of work, and his work usually
depicted a countenance of respect, achievement and status of his clients Onuchukwu, Chidum ( 1994). However, his work was not limited to
portraiture. In the 1930s, he worked with the Church of Christ in designing the
pews of a new cathedral to be built in Lagos. He later produced pastel
compositions and studies in the 1940s
PICTURES OF SOME OF HIS WORKS
