1 / 5
Photo 1/5 du lotPhoto 2/5 du lotPhoto 3/5 du lotPhoto 4/5 du lotPhoto 5/5 du lot
Featured lot selected by the auctions House.
Premium MILLON

31 - Farid BELKAHIA (Marrakech 1934 - 2014) Dawn, (19)83 Pigments…
See original version (French)

Estimate €50,000 - €60,000
Sale commission
Description
Farid BELKAHIA (Marrakech 1934 - 2014) Dawn, (19)83 Pigments on skin 77 x 60 cm Signed lower right F. Belkahia and dated 83 Countersigned, titled, dated, and located on the back F. Belkahia 103 bd de la résidence Casa. Aube, 1983 *** Natural pigments on goat's hide, signed and dated lower right F. Belkahia 83; signed, titled, dated and inscribed with the artist's address on the reverse (30⅜ × 23⅝ in.). Provenance Private collection, Paris, since 1987. Farid Belkahia's work reflects the development of a decolonial approach to art, freed from Western academic hegemony; and which questions the relationship between tradition and modernity. The work Aube (1983), presented at the sale, is a perfect example of this approach, adapting a traditional artistic heritage into a modern visual language. Aube is part of a specific period in the artist's career, during which, in the 1980s, he focused in particular on his research into materials. Drawing on Moroccan handicrafts, he turned his attention to the unexpected use of skin and natural pigments. Animal skin has been used in tanning since the twelfth century in Morocco, particularly in Fez. "I buy the skin raw. Once I've stripped it of its lymph, it's a very stretchy, supple skin that smells very strong, and I stretch it as much as I can," explains Belkahia. In Aube, the artist replaces the canvas with goatskin and applies henna to it: "Henna is a plant that is very widespread in North Africa, and it is one of the oldest plants in human consciousness. The use of pigments in the dyeing and wool-making process in Morocco avoids affecting the nature of the skin. Belkahia thus breaks with the materials inherited from the colonial period, preferring skin to canvas and natural pigments to oil paint. Aube is thus a celebration of the various craft practices that have been perpetuated for centuries, and which in Belkahia's work respond to contemporary issues. The choice of natural elements adds texture to the composition, amplifying the organic character of the work while accentuating its symbolic force. Reasserting the value of local crafts - long considered inferior to the fine arts - allows Belkahia to explore the sensory and even spiritual dimension of creation. From the famous series of the same name, Aube (1983) bears witness to the artist's constant and assiduous drawing, through which he develops a whole visual repertoire of motifs and symbols. Almost obsessively, he plays with the movement between straight and curved lines, geometric shapes, signs and symbols that he continues to draw on Moroccan cultural heritage. Here, the patterns traced inside the triangle evoke the traditional ornamental style seen in jewellery, carpets and Amazigh tattoos. Aube (1983) represents the eternal event when the world passes from night to day, which Belkahia translates through a play of light and shadow in varying shades of henna. It heralds a passage signalled by the coloured lines of the rainbow, but the artist does not limit herself to simply illustrating a natural phenomenon. The first rays of sunlight reveal the forms of life: this is a birth. The triangle - which represents the link between heaven and earth - is surmounted by a motif whose erotic shape suggests a woman's crotch. The meeting of celestial and terrestrial elements gives the work a highly sensual dimension, since it refers to fertility and humanity. In his reflections on Moroccan folk art, Belkahia finally turns to more general themes such as life, the body and nature. "Man has always been at the centre of my concerns. He is the source and the end of my research. It's from him that I try to decipher everything. Man is the energy cell of our world. Belkahia saw universality as the capacity of art rooted in local traditions to express human experiences common to all peoples. "Tradition is man's future", said Farid Belkahia, who envisaged the creation of a national visual culture and artistic practice, both modern and specifically Moroccan. Inviting contemplation, Aube (1983) attests to the artist's mastery of the relationship between image and material. It is an emblematic work that is part of a vision and practice essentially linked to the historical, cultural and artistic identity of Morocco, but to which Farid Belkahia offers a universal scope.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale Arab, African & Indian Modernities
Auction location
Auction time 06/18/2026 at 2:30 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like