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28 - Ahmed CHERKAOUI (Bejaâd 1934 - Casablanca 1967) Untitled, 19…
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Estimate €30,000 - €40,000
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Ahmed CHERKAOUI (Bejaâd 1934 - Casablanca 1967) Untitled, 1965 Mixed technique on jute canvas pasted on 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, no. 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," wrote 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 material of the hessian. The Miroirs series, from which this work is taken, is one of the most accomplished works of that pivotal year. Maraini describes it in the following terms: "Incandescent mirrors with dotted layers, reflecting nights and horizons; fixed, evocative eyes. Matter that dissolves into nuanced tones. Polychromy of bright colours, expressionist colours. Orphic painting". She also sees in it a resonance with the simultaneous drawings of the Futurists, their strong lines and their 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, when fundamental thought was given to 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 expand his artistic knowledge, Cherkaoui left for Paris to study graphic arts at the city's École des métiers d'art. After graduating in 1959, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts in 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 jute canvas, 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 public and critical acclaim.
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About the sale Arab, African & Indian Modernities
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Auction time 06/18/2026 at 2:30 PM
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