And better yet, Mitchell described, in Paprika Plains (from the Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter album of 1977) the fate of the indigenous peoples of North America, so similar to the doom that the "Candangos" workers knew, those who built the city, supported by Niemeyer, but expelled from Brasilia as soon as the political elite settled there".

Obsessed with Brasilia, it was inevitable that sooner or later Benoit would go there. In 1994, after spending a few days in Rio de Janeiro, the painter arrived on the central highlands. "It was like a dream. I was very excited when I got onto the Three Powers Plaza. I felt like crying. There was not a soul in the streets, which only reinforced these images of my childhood. Brasilia, a city of the future, as in a sci-fi movie ... It is only later that I understood: this was a Sunday during the Carnival" ! (Ed. : the city emptied with each carnival in favor of the coastal towns).
The emotional impact of this trip to Brazil was to influence Benoit’s career forever. Back in Paris, he devoted himself to the work of Niemeyer, brushes and soul. The first paintings were finished in 1996, all strictly faithful to the architectural proportions they depicted, "as a sign of absolute respect to the master", but free in the combination of their colors, all strong and saturated. Human figures, men, women and children, almost always naked, tinted these works with a dreamy tone, being as well a reference to the sensual curves expressed by Niemeyer in his achievements, all along his career.

Nine years and several paintings later, Benoit was ready for its first exhibition devoted exclusively to the work of the architect. But not before making a second dream come true : meeting Niemeyer personally. With the help of connections he had in France and Brazil, Benoit managed to mount the production of a film about Niemeyer, aged 97 years at the time. One summer morning, Benoit landed in Rio, en route to the architect’s Copacabana loft overlooking the sea.