The central painting of the three Picassos is Seated Woman; it was painted in 1936. The painting to its right, The Artist in His Studio, is from 1963. Beneath the Picassos is an assortment of elegant African figures. The three elongated abstractions at left are Dogon female ancestor figures. Next to them is Benenson’s favorite piece of African art—a piece he “couldn’t live without,” he told his son Lawrence; he was drawn to its “cubistic, . sculptural quality.” It is a Fang female reliquary figure, which would have been attached to a bark box holding the skulls and certain bones of important ancestors. At far right are two Mambila animal masks. The one at left is a highly stylized horned animal, with a curved, elongated muzzle. The one at right is a crow.

All photos ©Richard Barnes