‘I let the spirit express itself’: tracing Ablade Glover’s legacy

‘I let the spirit express itself’: tracing Ablade Glover’s legacy

Gameli Hamelo

Professor Ablade Glover, who global auction house Bonhams has called 'one of the fathers of modern African art,' once thought that painting could never be a career, but the universe had other plans.

Today, Glover has become one of the most celebrated and influential African artists. Contemporary Ghanaian artists such as Ibrahim Mahama have cited Glover’s work as 'an inspiration for many years to multiple generations of creatives/artists.' Mahama added that he first learned about Glover’s work from a textbook in high school at the age of fourteen.

Glover was born in 1934 in La, a suburb of Accra, in what was then the Gold Coast, under British colonial rule. He studied at the Central School of Art and Design in London (fabric design and painting), on scholarship by the Kwame Nkrumah-led government. While there, he also took classes in drawing and painting.

The scholarship was awarded because the government had plans to start a textile factory. On Glover’s return to Ghana, however, the government hadn’t started the factory and instead took him to a training school, where he trained art teachers. During the same time, he returned to Britain to study a course in ‘Art Education’, where he met Mrs Shirley Dubois–wife of WEB Du Bois and confidante of Ghana’s President Kwame Nkrumah–who helped him with a new exhibition and introduced him to Nkrumah, leading to further opportunities to study in the United Kingdom, at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He later went on to obtain his Master's degree and PhD, both abroad. Upon his return to Ghana, he took up a teaching position at what is now the College of Art in the University of Kumasi, where he began to paint all the time. 'Being a teacher gave me this freedom,' he told Sotheby’s.

Glover is best known for his textured, vibrant, and colorful depictions of crowds, painted with a palette knife instead of brushes. He started painting this way during his time at the University of Newcastle. There, he met a lecturer who encouraged him to use the tool in his work, having witnessed Glover’s 'spontaneous' approach. ‘It opened the door for me,’ Glover explains in an interview on his life and practice [1]. 'I let the spirit express itself. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. The palette knife does that for me. And it’s a great tool.'

Glover’s style can be best understood as one that straddles the line between abstraction and realism. From a distance, his paintings look almost messy and muddled, but a closer look reveals a delicate depiction of everyday life—either of people, places, events, or objects.

The late Nigerian painter, sculptor, and illustrator Uche Okeke described Glover’s works as creating a 'natural synthesis' of traditional African styles and modern Western styles and techniques, according to a New African feature [2]. This approach is said to have developed from the generation of Ghanaian artists before Glover, who were influenced by what was introduced to them in the form of materials, techniques, and concepts by the missionaries who came to Africa, starting in the twentieth century.

It’s a style that’s been refined and popularised on a global scale and has become synonymous with the work of many Ghanaian artists, considered the second generation of artists from the West African country, with Glover as a 'distinct representative,' as reportedly stated [3] in 1986 by the late SallyMugabe (nee Hyafron), the then-first First Lady of Zimbabwe, who was born in the Gold Coast, now Ghana.

Thematically, Glover’s appreciation for the socio-political and economic function of markets is frontend centre in his oil paintings on canvas, often highlighting women and their lives in these bustling scenes. Take ‘Market Scene In Orange, Yellow and Blue’ (1988), a vibrant painting that depicts a teeming market. While not often recognised for the essential role they play in the country’s economy, the people who work in the markets—mostly women traders—are the foundation of these spaces and of Ghanaian and African societies. They are often the first to notice changes in the country’s economy, because of these seemingly small roles, whether recognised or not, that they play in society, engaging and trading every day with the country’s citizens, tourists, and systems of trade. They seem to have innate proficiency in negotiating and convincing visitors to at least look at their wares, with the ultimate goal of purchasing their products or services. Glover’s market paintings are as much about the people in them, as the collective scenes they depict.

Makola Market, regarded as the biggest in Ghana, has experienced severe tragedies, including being demolished by soldiers in the late-1970s during military rule and devastating fires. However, it is still a site of bustling commerce, mostly fronted and facilitated by women. Glover's paintings portray the daily energy in that setting. Gulf Today quoted curator Sakhi Gcina assaying Glover’s works are an 'homage to women’s strength and resilience.' They also speak to women's successes and struggles.

Not all of Glover’s paintings feature human subjects. There are also landscapes and urban spaces, such as his work ‘Panoramic Landscape’ (2001), an abstract painting with shades of blue and black of several buildings in a community pictured from above.  

Glover’s paintings also portray everyday life, happenings, and materials in Ghana, including crowds, lorry parks, and towns. In ‘Calabashes’ (1975) for example, he showcases the shaped artefact made out of a hard gourd shell, most often used for serving water or drink and, in some instances, used in storing food or as a money box by women in Ghanaian societies.

Outside of his work, Glover is committed to supporting the work of fellow African artists. In 1993, he founded the Artists Alliance Gallery in La, Accra, which has earned a reputation for showcasing traditional and contemporary African art. The three-story building displays Asafo logo appliqués and embroidered symbols, Akan and Ewe's ancient banded knit Kente fabrics, African masks, eagle-shaped full-size coffins, and the work of established and young artists.

The space evolved from GLO Art Gallery, which Glover founded after his University of Newcastle education, to address the limited number of trained artists exhibiting their work and the need for more spaces in the country. At the gallery, he showcased his work alongside the work of emerging artists who didn’t have as much access to resources. A return to the United States for school and debt incurred by the gallery upon his return meant the gallery had to close its doors.

Before he became famous for his dynamic and vibrant paintings, Glover initially painted what he referred to in a Sotheby’s interview as 'traditional subjects'—horn blowers and mothers carrying babies. At one point, he even painted individuals, or small groups of only two, three, or four women at a time. Then he shifted to painting the 'essence of the market,' which incidentally is 'when things really started changing’ for him.  

Glover hasn’t slowed down. In July 2024, at the age of ninety, he exhibited a new set of paintings in a solo show at October Gallery in London, his tenth solo with the gallery. Still vibrant and as passionate and expressive as the scenes he depicts, he continues to inspire new generations of artists.

Endnotes:

[1] Creative Arts Agency, Ghana. 2020. “Ablade Glover isa Ghanian Artist…”. Facebook (30July). Available online.

[2] New African.2014. “Ablade Glover – Ghanaian Mirage”. New African Magazine. (6 August). Available online.

[3] Ibid.

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