Ghanaian Painter Loses Latest Work

By Desmond Davies

London, UK (PANA) - A renown Ghanaian painter, whose latest work was to have been exhibited in London next month, has been forced to put his old paintings on show because the new ones have gone missing.

According to a spokesman for the October Gallery in central London, Ablade Glover's paintings arrived at Heathrow Airport 23 August on board a British airways flight from Accra.

The crate containing the work was signed for but had disappeared before it was collected.

"The huge crate had an abnormal size," the spokesman told PANA. "So I don't see how it could have got lost among the other cargoes. It's quite disappointing."

A press officer at British Airways also told PANA: "The paintings were delivered by our cargo service, but when a representative from the October Gallery turned up to collect them we were unable to locate them."

"We are extremely sorry and we have apologised to the October Gallery and Dr Glover for the loss of the paintings.

"We have launched a full investigation to trace the paintings and we are in constant touch with the October Gallery," the press officer added.

When the gallery opened to the public Thursday, seven of Glover's old paintings, as well as those of other African artists, were on show.

Now after two weeks, it appears that Glover's work has been stolen. No price was placed on the paintings, but they are covered by insurance.

Glover's work, which has universal appeal, depict the exuberant variety of contemporary Africa.

His paintings can be found in such diverse public and private collections around the world as the Imperial Palace collection of Japan, the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and Chicago's O'Hare international airport.