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Portraits of Africa's modern art show a rising market's face

By Associated Press in Ile-Ife, Nigeria | China Daily | Updated: 2015-07-14 07:19

Babajide Olatunji sold his first portrait for about $7. Seven years later, his charcoal renderings of faces with tribal markings sell for thousands of dollars.

This 24-year-old's success is part of a new global recognition of the value of contemporary African art.

"It's the new 'Scramble for Africa' - no longer for land, gold or diamonds, but for art," says Giles Peppiatt, who holds the only auctions of modern African art outside the continent, at Bonham's in London.

Portraits of Africa's modern art show a rising market's face

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