Hallucination, 1961 by Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian, Ethiopia. Oil on canvas. Since it
Hallucination, 1961 by Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian, Ethiopia. Oil on canvas. Since it’s Black History Month, here’s the story of Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian. Boghossian was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on July 22, 1937 from an Ethiopian mother, Weizero Tsedale Wolde Tekle and an Armenian father, Kosrof Gorgorios Boghossian. Kosrof was a colonel in the Kebur Zabagna, the Imperial Bodyguards of Ethiopia. Kosrof’s father, an Armenian trader, became friends with the Emperor Menelik II and also worked as an ambassador in Europe on behalf of the Emperor. In 1955 Alexander was granted a scholarship, allowing him to study in Europe. Spending two years in London he moved to Paris to study and teach at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. From 1966 until 1969 Alexander taught at Addis Ababa’s School of Fine Arts. Eventually emigrating to the United States as an art professor at Howard University, Washington DC. Boghossian was the first contemporary African artist to have his work purchased by the Musee d’Art Moderne in Paris in 1963. In 1966, the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired his painting Juju’s Wedding, 1964. In 1977, he became the first African to design a First Day Cover for a United Nations stamp. His pen and ink drawing on the theme of “Combat Racism” for the cover and the accompanying stamp were issued on September 19, 1977. Boghossian fathered two children, Aida Mariam and Edward Addisu. Passing away on May 4, 2003, at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. He was 65. Sources: Legesse, Selamawit (2005). “Skunderism (The Third Annual Blen Art Show)”. Blen. Debela, Achamyeleh (April 2004). “A Jewel of a Painter of the 21st Century (1937-2003)”. Prepared for Arts Council of the African Studies Association Conference: 13th Triennial Symposium on African Art, 04/04. Blen. Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian. Ethiopian Passages: Dialogues in the Diaspora. National Museum of African Art. Cotter, Holland (2003-05-18). “Skunder Boghossian, 65, Artist Who Bridged Africa and West”. The New York Times. Giorgis, Elizabeth W. “Skunder Boghossian: Artist of the Universal and the Specific”. Debre Hayq Ethiopian Art Gallery. -- source link