Ogunjami held a solo exhibition at the Delphic Studios at 724 Fifth Avenue in New York City between December 3 and 15, 1934, entitled Exhibition of Paintings by Suzanna Ogunjami (Delphic Studios 1934). Although not sponsored by the Harmon Foundation, it filmed the opening ceremonies. The commercial gallery was of some distinction, consisting of three show spaces in a former private home. Ogunjami wrote (1934) that it was her maiden solo exhibition, “the work of several years of study. I started on the work exhibited after I had my Master’s Degree. With the exception of three pieces, everything else has been done since I left Teachers College. I decided I wanted to do everything by myself without criticisms or instructions. I very seldom went to an exhibition as I really wasn’t interested in them. Once in a while I went up to Wanamakers[20] or different picture galleries just to see if there was anything new.”
On the front cover of the exhibition brochure there is a black and white photograph of a painting by Ogunjami showing a seated woman with long black hair tied in a bun in the back. The woman is wearing long simple necklace and a flowing light-colored robe (Fig.3). The dress does not appear to be African: it may be Jamaican. In the Harmon Foundation Ogunjami file there is a sketch by the artist of a female face with a similar hairdo. Beside it she wrote: “This is a rough sketch, but it tells the type. A Bust picture—purple waist, Head dress in rich yellow with borders of colours (subdued). The border of the headdress shows life. Eyes—are rather dreamy. I consider attractive. I have mislaid the copy. I always make the whole outline and then put [it] on the canvas after m own rigid criticism”
Fig. 3
Suzanna Ogunjami. Title unknown. Reproduction of a painting on the front cover of the catalogue of her Delphic Studio Exhibition, 1934.
The small catalogue reads in part: “SUZANNA OGUNJAMI seems to have inherited the artistic side of her ancestors, both parents being direct members of the Ibo tribe of Nigeria, West Africa.” Twenty-seven paintings are listed, but it is not possible to tell from the titles which one is depicted on the catalogue cover, nor does it indicate what media she employed, although she often painted in oil on canvas. Some titles suggest Africa: Nupe Princess, A Susu Beauty, Ekandayo, and Watching for the Caravans, which may refer to African trading or slave caravans. Eight titles suggest floral still lifes, including Sunflower[21] and Full Blown Magnolia. There appear to be no New York City images, although she had lived there for some years. While Ogunjami was religious, only two titles, under the category of “Metalwork and Jewelry” suggest this: Alms Basin with some Stone Settings, and Cross with Sapphire Setting Pendant.
The number of paintings in the exhibition suggests a fair level of productivity and at least one of them sold.[22] A black and white photograph of A Nupi [Nupe] Princess (Fig. 4) in the United States Photographic Archives[23] was in the Delphic Studios’ exhibition, unless Ogunjami created more than one work with this title. The painting profiling the left side of the head and shoulders of a young woman is well delineated. There is a bright eye and she is wearing a round earring, a beaded necklace, and a cloth that ties her flowing hair at the back. The Nupe are an important cultural group in central Nigeria and we have noted that Ogunjami’s husband’s father came from that group. Another black and white photograph of a painting from the same archive is entitled Portrait Study (Fig. 5). It is a apparently a full-face view of the same woman wearing a large scarf in a band design.
Fig. 4
Suzanna Ogunjami. Nupi [Nupe] Princess. Early 1930s. Oil on canvas?
Fig. 5
Suzanna Ogunjami. Portrait Study. Oil on canvas? Early 1930s.
Alma M. Reed, the gallery owner was a journalist who had lived in Mexico for many years. She exhibited the then little-known Mexican artists at the gallery, such as José Clèmente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siquerios (Reed 2007:x-xi; May 1993:227-247). Perhaps sponsoring Ogunjami was part of a pattern of assisting artists who were not well known whose work she admired, although Ogunjami’s art differed greatly from that of the Mexican artists. Ogunjami wrote that her art was brought to Reed’s attention through a “young artist, Mr. Dobkin—who admired the paintings and suggested the Delphic Studios for my exhibition” (Ogunjami n.d.:5).[24] The show was the crowning moment of Ogunjami’s American artistic experience.
[20] A well known, premier department store.
[21] Said to be at Sarah Lawrence College Art Gallery. However, Dr. Michelle Gilbert, who has taught there, inquired and informed me that it could not be located, perhaps since works from the gallery have been loaned out to faculty members over the years and full records have not been kept.
[22] SW to ESB, February 14, 1938.
[23] The painting is said to be in he Carl van Vechten Gallery at Tuskegee University (Barnwell 1999:218), but the gallery director was unable to locate it. I have used the Harmon collection photograph.
[24] Probably Alexander Dobkin (1908-1975), who was born in Italy and studied art in the United States and became a well-known artist. He studied under Clèmentè Orozco, which may have been the link between Suzanna Ogunjami and the Delphic Studios.