CartStart collecting
Back to Stories

STORIES

Nigerian Art

Guides to the artists, movements, materials, and living traditions that make Nigerian art a deep field of discovery.

Rufus Ogundele painting from the Pure Lagos collection
Rufus Ogundele Yoruba Creation Mythology painting

GUIDE

Nigerian Art: A Guide to Its Living Traditions

Explore the major traditions, artists, and ideas that shape Nigerian art, from historic forms to the energy of contemporary practice.

Read the guide
Bronze-profile sculpture from the Pure Lagos collection

GUIDE

Yoruba Art: A Guide to Forms, Meaning, and Looking

Learn how to approach Yoruba art with care, from the role of the head and the body to the materials, makers, and stories that give a work meaning.

Read the guide
Tola Wewe artwork from the Pure Lagos collection

GUIDE

Tola Wewe: A Guide to His Art and Symbols

A closer look at Tola Wewe’s layered paintings, from their color and symbols to the questions that help a viewer stay with the work.

Read the guide
Rufus Ogundele Ancestral Pride, 1993, from the Pure Lagos collection

GUIDE

Nigerian Modernism: Artists, Ideas, and Looking

A guide to the artists and movements that made Nigerian modernism a vital conversation between local knowledge and new artistic forms.

Read the guide
Rufus Ogundele Brave Hunters, 1984, from the Pure Lagos collection

GUIDE

Oshogbo Art: Artists, Ideas, and How to Look

A guide to the artists and visual languages associated with Oshogbo art, and the questions that help a viewer look beyond easy labels.

Read the guide
Nat Okoro Sisi Eko, 2022, from the Pure Lagos collection

GUIDE

Contemporary Nigerian Artists: A Guide to Looking

A practical way to approach contemporary Nigerian artists, their materials, ideas, and the questions that help a work open up over time.

Read the guide