Alexander "Skunder" Boghossian
About
Alexander 'Skunder' Boghossian (1937-2003) was an Ethiopian artist widely recognized as a pioneer of African modernism and one of the most important Ethiopian artists of his generation. Born in Addis Ababa to an Ethiopian mother and Armenian father, he grew up separated from his parents due to his father's imprisonment as a prisoner of war during the Italian occupation. He received early informal art training at Teferi Mekonnen School under Ethiopian art historian Stanislas Chojnacki and won early recognition at age 17 with second prize in a painting competition. In 1955, he was awarded a government scholarship by Emperor Haile Selassie I to study at St. Martin's School and Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, later moving to Paris in 1957 where he was influenced by surrealism, modern Western artists like Paul Klee, André Breton, Georges Braque, Max Ernst, and Wifredo Lam, as well as Coptic, West African art, and magical realism.
Surrealist-influenced African modernism blending Coptic art, West African motifs, collage-like compositions, vibrant colors, and symbolic elements exploring blackness and metaphysical realities
Selected Exhibitions
- Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris (1963)
- Museum of Modern Art, New York (1966)
- Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of African Arts (1992)
- National Museum of African Art
Awards
- Haile Selassie First Prize for Fine Arts (1967)
- Contemporary African Painters, First Prize, Munich, Germany (1967)
- Twenty-ninth Annual Show of Black Artists First Prize, Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia (1970)
- District of Colombia Certificate of Appreciation