Few people have the privilege to bestride the world like a colossus. Fewer still, have the fortitude to last. Odinigwe Benedict Chukwukadibia Bonaventure Enwonwu was one such breed of person. Born to the Enwonwu family of Umuezearoli, Onitsha on July 4, 1921. Ogwugwu Aroli, the spiritual ancestral force of his lineage, gave him a traditional sculptor for a father, and an affluent merchant/landowner for a mother. Under the nurturing care of both, the young Benedict grew to develop a keen artistic perception. Until his death in 1994, Benedict Enwonwu, nke na api mbeke (one who sculpts spirit images), towered over the Nigerian arts scene like an iroko. A famed oracle who resided by the bank of the lagoon in Lagos, he thundered when aroused, and was disarming when jovial.

Citation Format:
Nzegwu, Nkiru (2000). BEN ENWONWU: ART FROM A SIXTY-YEAR CAREER - A RETROSPECTIVE. Ijele: Art eJournal of the African World; 1, 2. [http://www.ijele.com/vol1.2/index1.2.htm].

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