A Chance Encounter with Professor Ablade Glover

 

Professor Ablade Glover is probably one of Ghana’s national treasures. A painter and educator, he trained in Ghana, Britain, and the United States. Born in 1934, this octogenarian’s art can be found in galleries worldwide. He is a recipient of the FLAGSTAR Award (the top award for Arts in Ghana), is a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Art in London, and has received many other distinctions. In short, he is an inspiration and mentor to the new generation of Ghanaian artists.

Yet, this writer did not know of him. Actually, the truth is I had heard his name several years ago after a friend of mine from college, lets call her Zee, wandered into a gallery in Cape Town, South Africa featuring his works. She came back to the States excitedly talking about how she needed to own a piece of work by Ablade Glover. It needed to hang majestically on her dining room wall. Over the years she would bring it up again and again. She would see his art in New York and in Ghana and be distraught that she didn’t own one already. She was obsessed. In those years, I was not in a place to aspire to having art fancy enough for art galleries hanging on my wall. I would nod my understanding but we weren’t speaking the same language.

So here I am now, a bit older, with a condo to decorate, thinking wouldn’t it be nice to have a stunning piece of real art on my walls? One with a story. One that would invite enlightened conversations. I decided to make it my mission to find something interesting in Ghana. Another friend of mine from college, a Ghanaian, was visiting Ghana while I was there. We were trying to link up so she invited me to tag along while she went to visit a relative at the Artist Alliance Gallery in Accra which I had not heard of before. That our mutual friend, Zee, had asked me the night before to “please go to the gallery that is close to the beach” to see if there were any “tree paintings” by Ablade Glover that she could possibly afford only meant that this visit was meant to be.

How was I supposed to know then that “the gallery that is close to the beach” was the Artist Alliance Gallery established by Dr. Ablade Glover himself back in 1995 as a vision of excellence to display the art of Ghanaian artists. How was I supposed to know then that the relative we were visiting was Dr. Ablade Glover himself? So I’m sitting in his office when Zee, who is in the US by the way, checks in via WhatsApp text. I tell her that I’m sitting with the Professor and she loses it. At first she doesn’t believe me, wanting photographic evidence. Well certainly I couldn’t do that. I explain how I could be so fortunate…that all along she too had connections, our mutual friend. Zee couldn’t stop texting, first me, then our friend. Back and forth. Excitedly. She wanted us to negotiate a good “family” rate so she could buy one of his paintings as a present to herself for her upcoming birthday. Dream comes true. It really was hilarious.

We told Professor Glover that we had a friend that was absolutely gushing over his paintings right that minute. I said, she loves your “trees”. I didn’t even know what I was talking about. That bought us a visit to his private studio where he was painting a “Red Forest” on commission and for the joy of it had painted two other ones. There, in his studio, I marvelled up close at the thick swirls of oil paint vividly coming together such that what was abstract on first glance now clearly was a forest of trees. Calm. Soothing. He had also a canvas of market women and I could hear them orange, yellow, bustling, elegant, resilient.

Our visit over, since he had another engagement, we toured the gallery. I continued to marvel at the collected talent on display. Then I saw the price tags of his exhibits and laughed as I remembered telling Zee “sure I’ll try to find out which gallery you are talking about and will take my credit card”. No, this was not an on-the-fly purchasing experience by a novice like myself easily taken care of with a credit card. On top of that there was no way I was going to be able to buy fine art like this for someone else. The pieces were several thousands of dollars each. Several. And each was regal, energetic, and graceful. This would have to be an intimate acquisition. Art choosing buyer.

I really was fortunate to be able to meet Professor Ablade Glover and talk to him about his life, his art, and the future of art and creativity in Ghana. I’m grateful that he single-handedly is expanding the horizons of young Ghanaian artists, creating platforms to display their talent, and helping to develop a market for their art. It’s a very positive thing to have institutions on the continent that nurture and celebrate African art. My only hope is that we Africans ourselves patronise and collect these amazing works of art.