Pa Yusuf Grillo
Iconic visual artist, Yusuf Grillo dies of Covid-19 complications
One of the country’s leading figures in the visual arts sector, Pa Yusuf Adebayo Grillo has died of complications from Covid-19.
According to son of the iconic artist, Gboyega Grillo, his father died in the early hours of Monday, August 23 following complications from contracting the dreaded Covid-19 virus.
Prof. Grillo, who explained that he was so pained by the loss that he was not able to speak to the media, due to the shock and preparations toward the burial, revealed that his father would be given a Muslim funeral on Monday at 4 p.m at Atan cemetery in Lagos.
Grillo is considered one of Nigeria’s outstanding and academically trained painters.
Born in Lagos in 1934, Yusuf Grillo was known for his inventive works and the prominence of the colour blue in many of his paintings.
He attended the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria, where he received a diploma in Fine Arts and a post-graduate diploma in education.
In 1966, Grillo left Zaria for study at the academic halls of Cambridge University and later travelled to Germany and the United States of America.
Considered one of Nigeria’s outstanding and academically trained painters, Grillo emerged to prominence and international recognition in the 1960s and 1970s while exhibiting a large collection of his early works.
He makes use of his western art training in many of his paintings, combining western art techniques with traditional Yoruba sculpture characteristics.
His preference for the colour blue in natural settings paintings is sometimes similar to the adire or resist-dyed textiles used in Nigeria.
He was a former Head of the Department of Art and Printing at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, where he still has an art studio instituted in his name.
