Yusuf Grillo’s One Man Band has achieved £461,300 at Bonhams, setting an auction record for the Nigerian artist, the auction house reported.

The 1967 oil on board was sold in London on October 21, 2026, with the price including buyer’s premium. It is a painting with a history beyond the auction room: acquired directly from Grillo, it was exhibited in London in 1968. Nearly six decades later, it has become a new benchmark in his auction market.

Music in the Figure and the Brushwork

An elongated musician occupies the centre of One Man Band, surrounded by layered blues, greens and violets. The body is built from angular forms, but the instruments introduce another rhythm: a diagonal wind instrument crosses the torso, and curved drumheads gather near the musician’s hand. The figure’s identity remains open. It is the act of making music, rather than a recognisable portrait, that holds the composition together.

The painting measures 117 × 74 centimetres. Bonhams’ catalogue places it within Grillo’s combination of Yoruba sculptural influences and formal artistic training, while the cool colours recall another part of his practice: stained glass. The drums offer a particularly revealing detail. Their violet-blue surfaces pick up the surrounding palette, linking the musician’s equipment to the space around him rather than treating it as a separate still life.

From Grillo’s Studio to the Commonwealth Institute

Architect Aldo Whistance Grant acquired the work directly from the artist. It was exhibited as number 64 in Contemporary Nigerian Art at the Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery in London, from June 20 to July 21, 1968. That early exhibition history places the painting within a period when Grillo’s work was reaching audiences beyond Nigeria.

A founding member of the Zaria Art Society, Grillo also spent more than 25 years leading the Department of Art and Printing at Yaba College of Technology. Music was a recurring interest in his painting, and One Man Band brings that subject together with the geometry for which his figurative work is known. Its artist-record result was among the highlights of Bonhams’ £3,347,050 Modern & Contemporary African Art sale.

Sources: Bonhams lot catalogue and sale results. All prices include buyer’s premium. Images courtesy of Bonhams; cropped views are labelled as details.

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