Ca. last half 20thC. Chief Zacheus Olowonubi (“Z.K.”) Oloruntoba 1934-2014, was a well regarded Nigerian artist. This piece is framed under glass and remains in fine original condition. Not examined out of frame.

Z.K. Olotuntoba was apprentice to leading Osogbo artist Twins Seven Seven (1944-2011), as evidenced in the striking similarity between the two artists’ work at this time. Oloruntoba developed his own style when moved on to work independently from his studio in Ibadan, where he had his first solo exhibition at the British Council in 1966.A chance meeting in a Nigerian hotel brought him to the attention of the great American saxophonist Ornette Coleman, who was instrumental in taking him to the United States for a successful series of exhibitions in the 1970s, where he also designed record covers and artwork for a range of releases on Coleman’s Artists’ House label:‘A corner is hung with the spirit images of Z. K. Oloruntoba, a Nigerian who paints ghosts and gods into rich, stylized color canvases full of disembodied eyes and mysterious protoplasmic movement. Z.K. is hanging his first New York show downstairs, in the storefront where Ornette often rehearses. "Aren't his things beautiful?" Ornette asks as he makes another cushion shot. "I met him when I was in Nigeria, bought his work.”’ROBERT PALMER, ‘ORNETTE COLEMAN AND THE CIRCLE WITH A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE’ IN THE ATLANTIC, DECEMBER 1972Oloruntoba exhibited extensively around the world including exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, Lagos, The Commonwealth Institute, London and The World Bank, Washington D.C.

35 x 15.5 x 0.75 in