“Who bought it?”- Reactions as artwork by Nigerian artist named ‘Three Yoruba Brothers’ is sold for N56m in UK

An artwork by a Nigerian artist has been auctioned at Sotheby’s auction in the UK.

Olaolu Akeredolu-Ale, commonly known as Olaolu Slawn, created the artwork titled ‘The Three Yoruba Brothers.’

‘The Three Yoruba Brothers’ sold for a stunning £31,750 (N56 million) at the top auction house in the UK.

Olaolu wrote a post regarding the sale. He posted the following on his X account:

“My work “The three Yoruba brothers” just sold at the @Sothebys contemporary auction for £31,750, more than 350% increase from the estimate, at the biggest auction house in the UK, Amen.”

NTS, an X account that publishes news about innovation, also reported on the ‘Three Yoruba Brothers’ auction.

However, many Nigerians reacted negatively to the artwork, stating that they did not appreciate how Yoruba people were portrayed.

The art depicts three hideous-looking monkeys with large mouths, named Alara, Ajero, and Orangun.

Many comments under the post stated that the art is an unpleasant racist image of the Yoruba people, and they distanced themselves from it.

Reactions to Olaolu Akeredolu-Ale’s work

@Itzpelumi said: “It’s you and your Yoruba brothers that looks like that.”

@Barracuda1592 commented: “As a Yoruba man I feel offended by this art. It doesn’t depict anything yoruboid.”

@ololademiyusluv said: “I wonder how people spend so much on ugly arts, doesn’t make sense to me.”

@Mubxeel7373 said: “Aside from the fact that I don’t know art, what part of this is Yoruba aside from the wrapper in the background? Are you trying to tell me that Yoruba people look like apes?”