‘She sat for him 12 times’: The Nigerian artist who made a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II A photograph of the Queen with a young Nigerian poetess – who she has admitted to being inspired by – is to be auctioned to fund the fight against HIV and other diseases in west Africa.
In a rare moment of public diplomacy last night, a bronze sculpture of a young woman, believed to be Nigerian-born artist Anine Musavuli, who has been living in New York for five months, unveiled the first of its kind in the UK to be auctioned to raise money to combat HIV/Aids, pictured.
Musavuli, 30, is a pioneer artist who has created artworks, paintings and sculptures that are thought to have influenced other emerging artists in Nigeria.
A portrait of Lady Diana Spencer with a bronze head of Lady Diana Spencer is due to be unveiled by the artist, who has visited Kensington Palace, in central London, to unveil the portrait, which is to be sold at a fundraising event next month.
The £14,000 sculpture of the Queen will be put up at The Kensington Palace in London by a British company, which is trying to raise £500,000 for the fight against HIV/Aids in west Africa.
Musavuli said: “I am deeply touched by the invitation to unveil the portrait at which I will be the first sculptor to sit for the Queen.
“I have lived in New York for several years now, but it has been difficult to find a place for my sculpture; I would like to have it on public display.”
Musavuli, who is originally from Nigeria, said her sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II marked one of “very few occasions” where she will have the opportunity to sit for the monarch in front of a crowd in Europe, which she described as “something I always look forward to”.
The portrait – a bronze head of the Queen, with a face which is only one fourth life size – is the sculptor´s 13th portrait and her first to be made of a person, the artist said.
She said: “To
