Ahmed CHERKAOUI (Bejaâd 1934 - Casablanca 1967) Untitled, 1965

Lot description

Ahmed CHERKAOUI (Bejaâd 1934 - Casablanca 1967) Untitled, 1965 Mixed media on jute canvas laminated to plywood 23 x 28 cm Signed lower left A. Cherkaoui 65 *** Mixed media on canvas laid on board, signed lower left (9⅛ × 11 in.). Painted in 1965. Provenance Private collection; acquired directly from the artist in 1967. The authenticity of this work has been kindly confirmed by Mr. Nourdine Cherkaoui. A certificate of authenticity will be given to the buyer. Comparable works : Ahmed Cherkaoui, Mirror, painting on plywood, 24 × 29 cm, 1965. Reproduced in La peinture de Ahmed Cherkaoui, op. cit. n° 40. Ahmed Cherkaoui, Miroirs rouges, oil on laminated jute canvas, 23.5 × 28.5 cm, 1965. Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah. Bibliography Toni Maraini, Abdelkébir Khatibi, Edmond Amran El Maleh, La peinture de Ahmed Cherkaoui, SHOOF publications, Casablanca, 1976 (cf. lot 19). "The year 1965 marked a decisive turning point," writes Toni Maraini in the reference monograph devoted to the artist (La peinture de Ahmed Cherkaoui, SHOOF publications, Casablanca, 1976, p. 68). "The canvas is invaded by a deep, dynamic, unmistakable space; a space vibrating with an atmospheric breath." It is precisely this impetus that we perceive in this 1965 composition: the great cobalt-blue arc that structures the space, the horizontal strata of red, orange and yellow that cross the upper part like so many lines of force, and the chromatic profusion of the lower part where the shapes seem to dissolve in the burlap material. The Miroirs series, from which this work is taken, is one of the most accomplished sets of this pivotal year. Maraini describes it as follows: "Incandescent mirrors, with dotted thicknesses, reflecting nights and horizons; fixed, evocative eyes. Matter that dissolves into nuanced tones. Polychromy of vivid colors, expressionist colors. Orphic painting. She also sees a resonance with the Futurists' simultaneous drawings, their strong lines and interpenetrations of light - a rapprochement that the dynamics of our composition make particularly sensitive. "Ahmed Cherkaoui's work embodies one of the most important periods in the history of Moroccan art, that of the post-independence period, which corresponds to a fundamental reflection on new ways of accessing an artistic modernity in tune with local culture". Brahim ALAOUI, in Diptyk n°43, April-May 2018. Imbued with a dual culture - Berber on his mother's side and Arab-Muslim on his father's - Cherkaoui received a traditional education, including learning the Koran and calligraphy, which he continued in Casablanca with a renowned master. In 1956, keen to deepen his artistic knowledge, Cherkaoui left for Paris to enroll in the city's École des métiers d'art, in the graphic arts section. After graduating in 1959, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris the following year, and exhibited his work for the first time at the Lucienne Thalheimer printing works. That same year, he discovered the work of Roger Bissière, which had a lasting influence on him, and he particularly appreciated the works of Paul Klee, produced during his trip to Tunisia in 1914. In 1960, he exhibited in Morocco for the first time at the Salon de la Jeune Peinture at the Bab Rouah gallery in Rabat. The following year, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, a stay that marked a turning point in his career. There, he explored the material potential of burlap, as well as the ornamental repertoire of Arabic calligraphy, signs and pictograms, particularly Amazigh. On his return to Paris, the Ursula Girardon gallery in Paris held a solo exhibition of his work in Warsaw in 1962, to great acclaim from the public and art critics alike.