Farid Belkahia (; 1934 - 2014) was a Moroccan
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
artist and education reformer.
He served as the director of the
School of Fine Arts of Casablanca from 1962 to 1974, during the period of the Casablanca school modernist movement.
As an artist, he worked primarily in
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
,
metalwork
Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
and
leatherwork.
Personal life
He was born to a wealthy family in Marrakesh.
His father's circle of friends included the Polish artist
Olek Teslar and the French artist
Jeannine Guillou.
Through Guillou, Farid Belkahia met
Nicolas de Staël
Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles.
Early life
...
in 1937.
Belkahia studied at the of Paris 1954 to 1959.
He continued his studies in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
and returned to Morocco in 1962.
Art
While he was influenced by the aesthetics of Western
minimalism and
modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
, he was also interested in visual cultures of Moroccan heritage, incorporating this into his work.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belkahia, Farid
20th-century Moroccan artists
People from Marrakesh
20th-century Moroccan painters
Moroccan male painters