In Nigeria art patronage is still a
developing culture. A number of factors of course go to inform the flowering of
this culture or the lack of it for that matter. Thus in history of art, art
patronage refers to the support and encouragement that was provided to people
in the arts such as painters, sculptors, musicians, etc, by kings, popes and
wealthy individuals in society. But art appreciation generally is still in its
infancy in our clime as it were.
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| Sammy Olagbaju in a gallery |
Yes, a struggling economy and underdevelopment
are key factors that may dictate the downward pace and direction of art
patronage, yet there have been, and still exists a few dedicated indigenous
patrons of the arts that are worthy of celebration. And interestingly they are
not necessarily among the wealthiest in our society.
Refined, humble, amiable, and human, etc. are
the qualities that describe the person and character of one the finest art
patrons Nigeria has produced. I first came in close contact with Mr. Sammy
Olagbaju, a renowned Nigerian stockbroker, I think in 1999, when he agreed instantly
- having never heard of me before, to be my special guest of honour at my solo
exhibition which took place at the DIDI Museum in Victoria Island, Lagos. Uncle
Sam, I dare say stands out as a shining example for many unique reasons.
On this very first meeting, he regretted that
he was not going to be in town for the opening of my show, but instead humbly
requested to be allowed to have a private viewing before travelling, a request
of course I gladly worked on. I arranged an exclusive viewing for him with the
gallery’s permission before the opening. He asked how he could leave a message
nearby for me since he was travelling almost immediately, and I gave him my
elder brother’s contact as he (my brother) worked somewhere very close to his
then office in Victoria island.
There are sterling human qualities, and
collective norms that generally birth lofty societal ethos, and engender
civilisations; they are in the Arts, Architecture, Writing/Literature, etc.
Driving these factors of course calls for ‘patronage’ and encouragement (of
intellectual products). For example, one of the defining characteristics of
Florentine society throughout the centuries is known to be a deep-rooted system
of patronage networks.
Some of the great minds of the period such as
Michelangelo and Galileo for instance greatly benefitted from this system –
gaining high patronage from celebrated patrons such as Cosimo de’ Medici and
Marchese del Monte. These creative minds were further enabled in their highly
successful lifelong careers as sculptor/painter, and mathematician, scientist,
inventor respectively, and the rest of them by an organised society which
placed a high premium on intellectual property and creativity.
The affable Nigerian gentleman connoisseur
right from the very first impression lived up to his classical performance as a
– friend of the arts and artists, collector of note, a visionary leader, and indeed
an ‘art scholar’.
A couple of days after my meeting with Mr.
Sammy Olagbaju I called him to acknowledge receipt of the message he dropped
for me, and he responded with much warmth - telling me: “Yes, indeed I was privileged
to speak with your brother who works with KLM and sent the message to him; I
will be back in a fortnight and, congratulations on your forthcoming exhibition…”
He had left a message for me through my brother using a delivery man, and he
sounded as if I was doing him a favour. Now, this is not because it is me, but this
is just the way Mr. Sammy Olagbaju treated everybody and every artist for that
matter – like real human beings. His type of humility, I find very rare.
Mr. Olagbaju made you feel totally different –
a feeling of self-worth; you felt important. In one of those meetings with
colleagues, chatting and ruminating about the dearth of befitting homes for the
(visual) arts, I lamented the sorry state of the National Arts Theatre in Lagos,
including its immediate surroundings, and the near non-existence of public galleries
or museums of modern (Nigerian) art in the country. Then Uncle Sam consoled me
by saying he had plans in the pipeline.
It was after a number of years I learnt that
the affable lover of art and distinguished patron had a perfect strategy to set
up a gallery that will permanently be home to some 1,500 artworks. The gallery
estimated to cost about 3 - 4 million dollars will contain works in his private
collections and more, starting from his earliest collections made from far back
as 1967.
A pioneering leader and founding member of
the Visual Arts Society of Nigeria (VASON), Sammy Olagbaju was an art scholar -
having visited many artists’ studios home and abroad, gone to see works in many
galleries locally and internationally, studied the life of many artists and acquainting
himself thoroughly with art history. About personal artistic style, Sammy
Olagbaju illustrated by explaining that you can only cut a signature for
yourself by “plodding and plodding” for a good length of time, and consistently
on your way until originality finds you out.
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| 'Tales by moonlight', watercolour by Morgan Nwanguma - Olagbaju's private collection |
And here there is no pun intended, but a good
friend of mine on learning of Olagbaju’s attitude in dealing with artists had
quipped, “This guy must be a white man then...” And that for me speaks volumes
of the nature and ‘simplicity’ of this prominent Nigerian art collector; it is
also a measure of his exposure and orientation. But even at that ...; just
imagine, I still have one of those notes he scribbled and signed as he left a
cheque for me after a transaction some years ago. The gentleman impressed me
that much.
It is definitely not in our character - for
you to purchase an ‘expensive’ piece of merchandise (artwork) and say thank you
to the seller; rather we expect it must always be the other way round. But Mr.
Olagbaju will pay for your artwork with his hard earned money and gleefully
thank you for selling to him. That is the kind of value placement he had for
you and the talent and skills you possess.
Like the Medici family in Italy, Sammy
Olagbaju and his ilks take great interest in the (rebirth of) arts and
learning. The Nigerian society will yet flourish as was the case in Renaissance Europe, when prominent wealthy people and indeed the state, patronise
intellectual products and treasure their creators.
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