Five years after the passing of Professor Yusuf Adebayo Cameron Grillo, his influence continues to live through the artists, ideas and artistic traditions he helped shape. As Lineage of Masters II prepares to open at the Yusuf Grillo Museum in Lagos, the exhibition offers more than a tribute to a celebrated Nigerian modernist, it opens a conversation about mentorship, artistic inheritance and the generations carrying his legacy forward.

Words by Ireho Aito | Don’t Keep Your Art in the Finger! Photographs credit Benjamin Oladapo. Hakeem Mujeeb Olamilekan

Along the quiet and calm Ogunlowo Street in Lagos, the traditional home of Professor Yusuf Adebayo Cameron Grillo remains an unusual encounter with the life of a man whose influence travelled far beyond the walls of his studio. The street itself became closely associated with the late artist, teacher, administrator and mentor, and stepping into his abode today is to enter a quieter chapter of Nigerian art history.

It was here, in this atmosphere of artistic opulence and memory, that the media briefing for Lineage of Masters II unfolded.

The gathering brought together journalists, artists, curators, scholars, for a conversation about a man whose physical absence, five years after his transition, has done little to diminish his presence in Nigerian art.

Renowned journalists such as Gregory Nwakunor from The Guardian Newspapers, Ozolua Uhakheme of The Nation and Yinka Olatunbosun of ThisDay newspapers were invited alongside yours truly for the media briefing. If anything, his absence has made his influence easier to see.

In her welcome address, Mrs. Morayo Grillo Anthonio drew attention to the remarkable generational breadth of Lineage of Masters II, describing it as a special honour to see artists from different chapters of Nigerian art history gathered within the same exhibition.

“The pioneering generation of the 60s, which my father belonged; the remarkable generation of the 1970s, represented by artists such as Dr. Kolade Osinowo and Prof. Dele Jegede; and the vibrant generation of the 1980s, to the present, represented by artists such as Abiodun Olaku, Duke Asidere, Dr. Kunle Adeyemi and Kehinde Sanwo are among many other distinguished practitioners honouring this exhibition,” she said.

For Morayo Grillo Anthonio, the significance lies not only in the names on the exhibition list but in the lineage they collectively embody. She expressed that she was “awed and overjoyed” to have such a distinguished group of artists participating. Leading the impressive list are some of Prof. Yusuf Grillo’s pioneering contemporaries, including Professor Bruce Onobrakpeya, the late T.A. Fasuyi and Jerome Elaiho.

The exhibition is presented by GRILLOArt Ltd and the Yusuf Grillo Museum, the exhibition brings these generations into one space, allowing the story of Nigerian art to be seen not as separate chapters, but as a continuing conversation between masters, teachers, mentors and those who have carried the tradition forward.

The forthcoming exhibition, scheduled for October 24 to December 16, 2026, at the Yusuf Grillo Museum in Ikeja, Lagos, commemorates the fifth anniversary of Grillo’s passing and what would have been his 92nd birthday. But this is not simply another memorial exhibition. The exhibition curators describe it as an opportunity to examine what happens when the ideas of a master survive the master himself. The answer, perhaps, is lineage.

This edition carries the theme “Continuity and Contemporary Expression”, bringing together three generations of artists, starting from Grillo’s generation known as the “Modernists” in an expansive conversation across time, experience, media and geography with other two generations in a single room.

Dr. Kunle Adeyemi, one of the curators, explained that the exhibition is deliberately designed to move beyond simply remembering Grillo.

“We want to expand the scope of what Grillo stood for.”

That expansion is important. Grillo was not merely a painter whose works became recognisable through their distinctive visual language. He belonged to the generation of Nigerian modernists who helped establish the foundations upon which today’s contemporary art ecosystem continues to stand.

His elegant compositions, stylised figures, architectural sensibility and celebrated indigo tonalities formed an unmistakable artistic vocabulary. Yet his legacy was never confined to the canvas. The master himself, taught, mentored, administered, challenged and influenced generations of artists, leaving behind not just a body of work, but a living legacy that continues to shape Nigeria’s visual art landscape.

For Adeyemi, understanding Grillo therefore requires looking at his entire life and time in education, administration and private practice.

The power of the modernists to which Grillo belonged, he suggested, “can never be undermined.”

That sentiment resonates strongly in Lineage of Masters II. The exhibition is built around the idea that artistic inheritance is rarely a straight line. A teacher gives something to a student; the student transforms it; another generation encounters the transformed idea and takes it somewhere else. Then, the lineage continues. Among those connected to Grillo’s artistic and educational journey were figures such as Dr. Kolade Oshinowo, who served as General Secretary of the Society of Nigerian Artists, alongside other artists whose own careers became part of the wider Nigerian art story.

This year’s exhibition seeks to bring together approximately 20 contemporary masters and artists from different generations, including artists in the diaspora. Among them are US-based Professor of Art History Dele Jegede and Dr Hassan Aliyu, who is based in the United Kingdom.

The participating artists include Yusuf Grillo, T. A. Fasuyi, Bruce Onobrakpeya, Jerome Elaiho, Kolade Oshinowo, Dele Jegede, B.A. Aina, Abiodun Olaku, Ade Ogundimu, Adeola Balogun, Ato Arinze, Ben Nwosa, Bunmi Babatunde, Dotun Adegbite, Duke Asidere, Edosa Ogiugo, Fidelis Odogwu, Hassan Aliyu, Jerry Buhari, Juliet Ezenwa, Kehinde Sanwo, Kunle Adeyemi, Lara Ige-Jacks, Lekan Onabanjo, Odun Orimolade, Olusegun Adejumo, Sam Ebohon and Sam Ovraiti.

Each artist is expected to have two works, opening the exhibition to a wide range of approaches and interpretations.

And that is where the word “contemporary” in the exhibition’s theme becomes particularly interesting.

The artists are being invited to respond to the questions, values, philosophies and artistic possibilities associated with him.

For curator Kehinde Sanwo, who was also the curator for last year’s edition, Grillo’s influence was never limited by geography.

“Yusuf Grillo was known beyond Africa and appreciated. Grillo’s scope is wide.”

Sanwo, who, like Adeyemi, was a student and worked with Grillo, understands the exhibition not only from the perspective of a curator but also from that of a disciple who encountered the master directly. That personal connection gives the exhibition another layer.

It is one thing to study a master through books, photographs and museum collections. It is another to have sat in the same room, listened to his thoughts, watched him work or experienced his teaching. That difference is at the heart of lineage.

For Mrs Morayo Grillo Anthonio, daughter and one of the custodians of the late artist’s legacy who is also a driving force behind the museum’s commemorative project, the family’s appreciation of Grillo’s significance has deepened with time.

“We really didn’t know what we had until he left us before we started appreciating what Yusuf Grillo stood for and the legacy he left behind.”

Her reflection is perhaps one of the most poignant moments surrounding the exhibition.

Death has a way of changing how a society sees its cultural figures.

While an artist is alive, the work can appear immediate and familiar. After the artist is gone, the same work begins to acquire historical weight. Questions emerge. What did this person contribute? Who did he influence? What institutions did he help build? Which ideas survived him?

And then there is the world outside Nigeria. The inclusion of Grillo’s work in Nigerian Modernism, the major exhibition at Tate Modern in London that ran from October 8, 2025 to May 10, 2026, offered another reminder of the international significance of Nigeria’s modernist generation.

For the Grillo family, the exhibition became an eye-opener.
“The Nigerian Modernism exhibition held at Tate Modern in London, is an eye opener for the family that we have a lot of work to do, Morayo Grillo Anthonio revealed.”

That “work” goes beyond preserving paintings; it is about preserving the stories, ideas and people behind Nigeria’s art movements, ensuring that future generations understand the teachers, artists and institutions that shaped its history, while making that history accessible to a wider audience beyond the art world.

That ambition explains why Lineage of Masters II is being presented as a meeting point for artists, collectors, galleries, scholars, students, journalists and the wider public.

The first commemorative edition had 13 of Grillo’s mentees and protégés paying tribute to him through an exhibition. This year’s edition has grown considerably.

As Morayo Grillo Anthonio noted with delight,

“The last year’s edition had only 13 artists on exhibition and this year’s edition has risen as many artists wanted to be part of this year’s honour.”

The growth says something about the appetite for connection. It also says something about Grillo’s reach.

This year’s exhibition deliberately brings those generations together. There is Grillo’s generation of modernists. There is a succeeding generation represented by artists such as Dele Jegede and others shaped by the development of Nigerian art after the pioneers. And there is the current generation, working across painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, photography, mixed media, installation, digital art and interdisciplinary practice. Together, they create an expanded portrait of what artistic inheritance can mean.

The organisers originally considered an earlier date for the exhibition but moved it to October in response to collectors’ schedules and the desire to create a stronger period for engagement.

Sanwo explained, “we decided to move it due to collectors demand. Many of them would not be in the country as they are holidaying. October becomes the appropriate period to have the commemorative exhibition.”

It is a practical decision, but it also reflects the larger ambition of the project: to make the museum a living meeting point for the art community rather than a quiet repository of memories.

The organisers speak of building partnerships with galleries and other stakeholders, creating greater inclusiveness within the art ecosystem and bringing government and institutions into wider conversations about visual art.

Yusuf Grillo Museum, in this sense, is not intended to remain simply a monument to one man. It is being imagined as part of a larger cultural network. And perhaps that is precisely what Grillo himself would have understood.

His career was never only about making paintings. It was about building people and institutions around art. This makes the museum particularly significant.

Walking through the space, one is reminded that Grillo’s story did not begin with the exhibition and will not end with it. His home, his works, his students, his colleagues and the generations of artists who emerged from the Nigerian modernist tradition all form part of a larger narrative. And today, the museum becomes another space where memory is reorganised and presented to the public.

And what happens when contemporary artists from Nigeria and the diaspora enter the same conversation? This is where the exhibition becomes interactive in the most meaningful sense. These questions transform the exhibition from commemoration into dialogue.

Also, it makes the title, Lineage of Masters, feel less like a historical label and more like an unfinished sentence.

The exhibition is not simply about Yusuf Grillo alone, Dr. Adeyemi clarified. “It is about the artists who stood in his classroom, encountered his paintings, absorbed his discipline, argued with his ideas or simply discovered, through his example, that a serious life in art was possible.”

And perhaps that is the enduring meaning of Lineage of Masters II not merely to remember a master, but to recognise the generations that emerged from his influence and continue to carry the conversation forward.

A master may leave the studio, but the studio does not necessarily leave the master.

Lineage of Masters II exhibtion opens on October 24th and will run till 16th of December 2026 at Yusuf Grillo Museum, Ikeja, Lagos.

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