Veteran Visual Artist Prof. Yusuf Grillo has been confirmed dead due to COVID-19 complications.
Gboyega Grillo, son of the deceased, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
Prof. Yusuf Grillo was 86 years old.
He said his father died in the early hours of Monday, August 23, 2021.
Grillo, who could not hide his emotions, said he was so pained that he couldn’t speak to the media due to the shock and preparations toward the burial.
He said his father’s remains would be buried today at 4 p.m at Atan cemetery in Lagos.
Grillo is considered one of Nigeria’s outstanding and academically trained painters.
Yusuf Grillo, a contemporary Nigerian artist born in 1934, was known for his inventive works and the prominence of the color blue in many of his paintings.
He became prominent and recognized internationally in the 1960s and 1970s while exhibiting an extensive collection of his early works.
He used his western art training in many of his paintings, combining western art techniques with traditional Yoruba sculpture characteristics.
His preference for blue in natural settings, painting 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, Yaba College of Technology in Lagos State.
Grillo was the first president of the Society of Nigerian Artists.
(NAN)
