Wosene Worke Kosrof

The canvas is wrapped around board, but not stretched or laid down. Examination under UV shows no evidence of retouching or repair. Overall, the work appears to be in good condition.
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Beauty of Your Own IV was painted by Ethiopian artist Wosene Worke Kosrof in 2011. Kosrof is known for his development of contemporary abstract art from the altering of traditional Amharic script. Inspired by his love of music, Kosrof also uses jazz notes and symbols to form the foundation of his painterly compositions.

On his relationship with music as an artist, Kosrof says, ‘Since my student years at the School of Fine Art in Addis Ababa (1967-1972), American jazz has asserted a significant influence on my painting. Like jazz music, the script provides a repertoire of dense, yet supple, elements that lend themselves well to visual improvisation. Jazz also influences my sense of composition: like improvisational music, the language symbols can be juxtaposed on canvas in nonverbal "word-plays" to create a visual language of form and color, rhythm and movement’.

Kosrof trained at the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts in 1972, where he studied under the tutorship of Gebre Kristos and Skunder Boghossian. With their guidance, Kosrof and other student artists moved past realistic photographic works, to explore subjects of a social, economic and political nature. Kosrof has been exhibited at the National Museum of African Art, National Museum of Ethiopia, The Newark Museum, Neuberger Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fowler Museum at UCLA, and Fleming Museum, where his work is held in permanent collections.