Lot 23: EPHREM SOLOMON (ETHIOPIAN, BORN 1983) The Unknown Lady, 2013 woodcut and

EPHREM SOLOMON (ETHIOPIAN, BORN 1983) The Unknown Lady, 2013 woodcut and mixed media 90 x 95cm (35 7/16 x 37 3/8in).

Provenance Tiwani Contemporary, 2014. Exhibited London, Saatchi Gallery, Pangea II: New Art From Africa and Latin America, 2015. London, Tiwani Contemporary, Ephrem Solomon: Untitled Life, 2014. Literature Pangaea II: New Art From Africa And Latin America, Publish by Saatchi Gallery, London, 2015, p.145 A Selection of Modern & Contemporary Ghanaian Masterpieces Lots 24 to 39 Over the last three decades, the investor and entrepreneur, Seth Dei, has built up an unparalleled collection of modern and contemporary Ghanaian art. His modernist residence in Accra, built in 1957, is home to the Dei Centre for the Study of Contemporary African Art. The collection comprises more than five hundred paintings. Dei was born in the Gold Coast, then still a British colony. He moved to the United States aged 16 to study. He received funding from the Ghanaian government to continue his education first at Columbia, and then at Cornell. On his graduation, Dei returned to Ghana, where he co-founded Blue Skies, a fresh-fruits company, with British entrepreneur Anthony Pile. Dei made his first artistic acquisitions as a way of engaging with his Ghanaian heritage and patronising local talent. In a recent interview, he spoke candidly about the emotional attachment he has for these works. Of Harry Ageyman’s painting, ‘Feeling the Jam’, he commented: When I look at this painting, it brings back a lot of memories. I listened to a lot of jazz. It reminds me of when I graduated from college. When I was studying in the US, I heard some of the best jazz musicians: John Coltrane, Miles Davis…there is a lot of experimentation with music…it puts me in a good mood. The following selection are highlights from Seth Dei’s collection, and represent some of the best artistic talents that Ghana has to offer. Photograph courtesy of Jordi Perdigo Highlights from the Collection of Seth Dei