Yusuf Grillo

Yusuf Grillo (born 1934) is a contemporary Nigerian artist known for his inventive works and the prominence of the color blue in many of his paintings. He was president of the Society of Nigerian Artists.

Grillo was born in Lagos and attended 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, he left Zaria for study at the academic halls of Cambridge University and later traveled to Germany and the United States of America.

Grillo is considered one of Nigeria's outstanding and academically trained painters; he 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 color blue in natural settings paintings, is sometimes similar to the adire or resist-dye textiles used in Nigeria. He is a former Head of the Department of Art and Printing at Yaba College of Technology.

Source: wikipedia