Rufus Ogundele, 1946–1996

Rufus Ogundele was born in Oshogbo. As a teenager, he became a musician and actor in his uncle Duro Ladipo’s theatre company. In 1963, he participated in Denis Williams’ workshop, marking the beginning of his artistic development.

From the outset, Ogundele worked on a large scale. Using emulsion paint, he outlined one or two large figures in black, filled the background with white, and completed the remaining areas in blue, green, and red. His skills as a printmaker developed when Georgina Beier invited him and Jacob Afolabi to work in her home, where he learned linocut techniques.

Ogundele combined European artistic techniques — learned under Williams and especially Beier — with the teachings of traditional Yoruba culture. His subject matter reflects strong spiritual beliefs rooted in Yoruba life. Although raised Christian in the Anglican Christ Mission Society, he was a follower of Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron. His family name, *Ogundele*, literally means “Ogun worshipper.” The bold black outlines in his work echo the German Expressionist styles of Nolde and Kirchner.

In 1968, he moved to Ife, Nigeria, where he assisted Solomon Wangboje at the Ori Olokun Centre and later co-founded the Ogun Timehin Studios. In 1983, he served as artist-in-residence at the Iwalewa-Haus in Bayreuth, Germany, and went on to train other artists in his studio.

source: “Concrete Vision” exhibition, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian; “30 Years of Oshogbo Art,” U. Beier