‘She sat for him 12 times’: The Nigerian artist who made a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II, her portrait and two of her children
A bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth II was produced by a young sculptor who created her portrait and her 11 children – but the monarch’s face was never revealed.
Lola Olatunde, a 23-year-old Nigerian-born sculptor, who said her life’s ambitions were to be a painter, a dancer or a songwriter, created the sculpture of the Queen for a charity auction at the Christie’s auction house in New York last year.
The sculpture, which became the centrepiece at the end of a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in June, has since sold at rock-bottom prices.
Lola Olatunde created a bronze sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II, her portrait and 11 of her children at a charity event at the Christie’s auction house in New York a year ago
The Queen, pictured with Prince Philip, left, and Prince Charles, right, at the charity auction in June 2017
Olatunde, who studied and worked in Japan, was given £1,200 by the charity in recognition of her contribution to her’most beloved country’, the BBC reported.
At the time of the auction, she described her mother’s portrait as ‘her most prized possession’, saying a portrait ‘of a woman who was so special to me was a gift from my mother, who was a princess and my mother-in-law was a Queen’.
The sculpture featured the Queen’s face, as well as her 11 children – Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry as well as her four grandchildren.
The sculpture is titled Empress, after the queen’s title.
Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry are pictured in the sculpture. They all attended the ceremony to unveil the sculpture
The statue is titled Empress after the Queen’s title
Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry are pictured with the statue in June 2017
Prince Charles, pictured with Empress at the ceremony, said
