Portrait of Ethiopian Lady given to an American dignitary

Blogger's Note: Some may have seen this portrait on my facebook profile and wondered whose portrait is this? or what is the story behind this portrait? The guest blog entry I am posting today is a report of an informal lecture by an art historian who attempted to provide an answer to that question. The lecture was a result of an initiative that I proposed as a member of the now defunct Ethiopian Biographical Resources Center (EBRC). Other members of EBRC agreed and we had our what we called the 1st biography lecture which was held at Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African Art Library and as you may have guessed it was on the life and works of pioneer artist Agegnehu Engida. Interestingly, the informal lecture was not the usual biography lecture with most facts of the subject's life very much known. It was rather an attempt to construct biographical details by filling out some gaps in what is mostly unknown details of the pioneer artist's life, based on some works or documents found. The starting point was the portrait you see above. This portrait was given allegedly by Emperor Haile Selassie to a one-time American dignitary . If I recall correctly, this portrait ended up in Smithsonian Institute not long before the lecture through donation from the dignitary or family members of the dignitary. Unfortunately, the portrait was not signed, and the donor do not know who the artist is nor the subject. Hence it fell on Ms. Janet Stanley, the Librarian of National Museum of African Art Library to find out more about this portrait. You may not know this but librarians are like detectives. At times what they get from library patrons in this case from a donor is just one and only clue to build on. That is exactly what Ms. Stanley did. While searching for literature on Agegnehu Engida she found a book and saw the portrait in a balck-and-white photo of Agegnehu Engida along his works. After establishing this fact, she asked some renowned Ethiopian artists and other art scholars as to who the lady might be? As you will read from the report, initially there were some suggestions, that this could be among the portraits of Empress Mennen which the artist have made as a palace portrait artist. Most imporatntly, she was in contact with the late Professor Stan Chojnacki, the renowned expert on Ethiopian traditional art and the art historian/librarian who founded the Institute of Ethiopian Studies Museum of the then Haile Selassie I University. He was living then in Canada, near Ottawa and when she knew he will be visiting Washington, DC area she invited him to do the talk on what they have discovered about the portrait in particular and Agegnehu's life in general. After having said this much about the background, let me take you to the guest blog and the report which is posted here upon permission of the writer Ms. Janet Stanley.

Notes on Agegnehu Engida from the Ethiopian Biographical Research Center (EBRC) program, May 17, 2008, at the Warren M. Robbins Library, National Museum of African Art, Washington, DC.

Janet Stanley

From the discussion of the Ethiopian painter Agegnehu Engida, several questions and avenues for research opened up.

Who is the sitter of the Agegnehu Engida portrait of a woman weaving a basket? Some in the audience, including Professor Chojnacki, doubt that the sitter is Empress Menen. On the other hand, published source(s) have indicated that Agegnehu Engida painted portraits of the royal family from photographs. This portrait may have been painted from a photograph of a younger (even idealized) Menen. Comparison of photographs of Menen (especially a young Menen) with the portrait show strong facial resemblance. The question remains open.

Another question is whether Emperor Haile Selassie would have given a portrait of a member of the royal family to visiting dignitaries. Some in attendance thought that the Emperor would not have done so. It remains an open question, although in the case of the James M. Landis portrait, he did so, in 1944. And supposedly, also to Dwight Eisenhower (according to the present owners of the Landis portrait).

There is a need for a catalogue raisonné to be compiled for Agegnehu Engida, listing titles, dates, and providing provenance for each work. There is also need for some of the facts of his life to be filled in or cleared up. His years in Paris , while attending art school, need to be investigated. Did he return in 1933 or was he summoned home in 1930 by Haile Selassie? What did Agegnehu do during the years of the Italian occupation? This needs to be investigated. What precisely were the circumstances surrounding his death? All indications are that the circumstances were suspicious, but no facts are revealed.

The question of the Parliamentary murals, which may now likely be in Rome , needs to be pursued. Investigation needs to be done about his “Swiss wife,” who was in contact with the son Girma Agegnehu Engida (not her child) born in 1948 after Agegnehu Engida died in 1947.

Whom to interview? The EBRC or some individual should compile a list of persons to be interviewed about the artist. Kebedech has already (back in 1999) met with the son Girma Agegnehu Engida, who is now living in Addis Ababa, following some years in Germany. The son is also a painter. He certainly may have photographs and information and about his father and/or know the whereabouts of other paintings.

The well-known self-portrait of Agegnehu is an enticing object of study in and of itself. What is the artist saying by presenting himself as an “artiste” with beret, Western suite and tie, and moustache. The date of 1944 for this painting is problematic.

The booklet of poetry by Agegnehu Engida, published in 1935 (1928 by the Ethiopian calendar), contains illustrations, possibly by Agegnehu or by his students. Professor Chojnacki has subsequently verified that two of the drawings are signed by Agegnehu.  The other illustrations are well-known portraits of famous Ethiopian, taken from other sources).  The poetry is patriotic and nationalistic in theme and style, reflecting the mood of the times in Ethiopia with the looming Italian threat.

 

Postscript:

Stan and I have continued the conversation about Agegnehu Enigda and have already been able to fill in some pieces of the puzzle - - on of which is that he died in a car accident in March 1947 (which clears up the death date).  I also discovered that I actually have an artist’s file on the son, who goes by the name Girma Agegnehu Engida (various spellings), born 1948.

We came across another source that indicated that Agegnehu was summoned home in 1930 by the Emperor (not 1933 as earlier sources suggested).

And we found a 1938 reference stating that the parliamentary murals were already in the colonial museum (presumably removed between May 1936 and December 1937 (or early 1938).