A painting by the
Nigerian artist responsible for the "African Mona Lisa" sold at
auction in London on Tuesday for £1.1 million after the family who owned it
googled the signature and realized its importance. "Christine", by
20th century master of African modernism Ben Enwonwu, had been in the sitter's
family home ever since it was painted in Lagos in 1971.

"The family
were unaware of the significance of the painting or the importance of the artist,
until a chance "googling" of the signature led them to Sotheby's free
Online Estimate Platform," said the London auction house.

The painting
fetched over seven times the pre-auction estimate, finally going under the
hammer for £1.1 million. The work precedes the artist's 1974 painting of Ife
royal princess Adetutu "Tutu" Ademiluyi, which recently turned up in
a London flat after not being seen in decades. 
The portrait is a national icon in Nigeria, with Booker Prize-winning
novelist Ben Okri telling AFP that it was thought of as "the African Mona
Lisa".

Enwonwu, who died
in 1994, is considered the father of Nigerian modernism. He made three
paintings of "Tutu", the locations of all of which had been a mystery
until the recent discovery. The works became symbols of peace following the
clash of ethnic groups in the Nigerian-Biafran conflict of the late
1960s.-AFP