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12 - Brahim DAHAK (Tunis, 1931 - 2004) The Hilalian Gesture Portf…
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
Brahim DAHAK (Tunis, 1931 - 2004) The Hilalian Gesture Portfolio of 33 original colour wood engravings presented in a full cloth box dedicated to Mr Habib Boulares. Justification of the print run on the title page: "100 copies of this volume have been printed, numbered from 1 to 100, and fifteen copies reserved for the artist, numbered from I to XV". Justified and numbered copy no. VI / XV. Provenance Private collection of Habib Boulares (1933-2014), Tunisian journalist, writer and statesman. Comparable work Institut du monde arabe, Paris, inv. AC 97-6. Bibliography L'estampe arabe contemporaine. Collection of the Institut du monde arabe. Sylvain CHIMELLO (curator); Denis THEISSE (curator) (Imprimerie moderne, 2003), p. 54-55. In this set of colour xylographs devoted to the Hilalian gesture, Brahim Dahak masterfully deploys the resources of wood engraving, his preferred technique. The artist's style is based on simple forms, vigorous flat tints and strong chromatic contrasts: a sobriety that lends the work a strong expressive quality. The scenes are organised into coherent series - evocations of nomadic Bedouin life, episodes from the epic cycle, heroic figures such as Abu Zayd confronting the Zenet rulers of Tunis. The deeds of the Banû Hilâl, handed down for centuries by storytellers throughout the Maghreb, are one of the great epic cycles of Arab tradition. It recounts the exploits of this tribe from the Najd, who were involved in the conflicts of the medieval Maghreb and whose westward expansion contributed to the gradual Arabisation of North Africa.
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About the sale Arab, African & Indian Modernities
Auction location
Auction time 06/18/2026 at 2:30 PM
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