Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya
Oyo Weavers
About the SessionNAIROBI – Following their successful collaboration in 2025, Strauss & Co, Africa’s leading auction house, and Danda Jaroljmek, Director of Art Auction East Africa, will present Art Auction East Africa | Strauss & Co, a 67-lot sale bringing together modern and contemporary art from East Africa and the wider continent. The live-virtual sale will be held at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi on Wednesday, 28 October, 2026, 7pm EAT. The catalogue spans a diversity of East African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda, alongside works by artists from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria. Works on paper, photography and sculpture complements the strong painting consignment. “The selection invites collectors to discover East Africa’s diverse modernist histories, particularly those beyond the Anglophone world,” says Susie Goodman. “In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in East African modernists, with artists associated with the Khartoum School shown in museums and fairs globally. Our work as an auction house rooted in Africa is ensuring this rediscovery is not temporary. We are delighted to partner with Danda Jaroljmek in cultivating a sustainable secondary market for East African modernists active during the era of decolonisation and independence.” A preview exhibition will be held at Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square, Riara Road, Nairobi, during the two weeks preceding the auction on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.
LOT 15
Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya
Oyo Weavers
About this Item
signed, dated Aug. 1975, numbered 15/50, inscribed with the title, medium and 'Haystack Maine' in pencil in the margin
Provenance
Private Collection
Notes
An innovative printmaker, painter and sculptor, Bruce Onobrakpeya was among the original eight members of the Zaria Art Society, formed in 1958 while Onobrakpeya was a student at the Nigeria College of Arts, Science and Technology. The Society’s artistic and critical output, and the members’ ensuing careers, have had an immense impact on Nigerian art.
Onobrakpeya’s artworks have been included in a number of major international exhibitions including Contemporary African Art, the Museum of African Art, Washington DC, 1974; Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1995; Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis, Tate Modern, London, 2001. Onobrakpeya’s artwork is represented in numerous public collections worldwide including the Vatican Museum in Rome, the National Museum of African Arts, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC and the British Museum, London.
Onobrakpeya has been recognised with a number of prestigious awards including the Living Human Treasure Award given by UNESCO in 2006, the Nigerian Creativity Award by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2010, and an Honourary Degree of Doctor of Arts from the Delta State University in 2017.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lampert C, Havell J (eds) (1995) Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa. London: Whitechapel Gallery
Kasfir S.L. (2000) Contemporary African Art. London: Thames and Hudson
Biography courtesy of Circle Art Gallery.
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