Solomon Irein Wangboje (1930 – 1998) was an accomplished printmaker and Nigeria's first professor of fine arts. One of the pioneers of contemporary printmaking on the continent, Wangboje was an early graduate of the Nigeria College of Science, Art and Technology (now Ahmadu Bello University), Zaria (1955-9).

His time at the college led to a close association with the influential Zaria Arts Society, pioneers of post-independence Nigerian modernism, fusing Nigerian cultural and artistic heritage and Western production technique. Further studies included an MA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Detroit and a doctorate in Arts Education at the New York University (NYU) in 1968.

Wangboje’s career as an educationist included the Yaba College of Technology, the University of Ife, and a return to the fine arts department of Zaria in 1971. Wangboje was later appointed Nigeria's first professor of art education in 1973, and in 1978 he introduced the first faculty of creative arts in Nigerian higher education - at the University of Benin.

Wangboje exhibited widely in Nigeria and the US, with his etchings, woodcuts and linocuts depicting scenes from everyday Nigerian life and African cultural traditions. His works are included in the permanent collection of the National Museum Lagos, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Arts, Washington DC.

Icon | Solomon Irein Wangboje