As part of their latest exhibition on Nigerian Modernism, some artwork from the University of Chichester’s Bishop Otter Art Collection has gone on show at the Tate Modern in London.
The University has loaned ‘Monotomy’ to the London art gallery for the next year – a large painting by the pioneering Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu. This piece is signed and dated 1948, and is composed of four colours – blue, yellow, ochre and grey – on an oil on board (unglazed), and shows three figures in landscape.
Ben Enwonwu (1917-1994) was a well-known Nigerian artist, and a pioneer in African modernist painting, studying at the Slade School of Art in London (1945-47) under artist Randolph Schwabe.
The painting was gifted to the Bishop Otter Art Collection in 1977 by former Principal of Bishop Otter College, Miss K. M. E. ‘Betty’ Murray (1948-1970) as, prior to attending the Slade Ben Enwonwu attended two Government Colleges in Nigeria where he had been taught by Kenneth Murray – Miss Murray’s brother.
Professor Symeon Dagkas, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Chichester, attended the private view of the exhibition at the Tate Modern on Tuesday 7 October. He said: “It’s a great privilege to be offered the opportunity to loan this significant painting by Ben Enwonwu to the Tate Modern for the Nigerian Modernism exhibition. The University of Chichester Art Collection, of which the Bishop Otter Collection is a part, holds a number of important artworks and we are delighted to share ‘Monotony’ with the Tate Modern’s audience.”
The Nigerian Modernism exhibition is running from 8th October 2025 – 10th May 2026, and more details can be found here.
