Ibrahim Shahda (, Al-Azizya – ,

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

) was a figurative French painter born in Egypt.

Biography

Born in Al-Azizya, Egypt, Shahda studied at the

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Fine Arts Academy in 1947, aged 18. He worked with French professor and painter

Pierre Beppi-Martin Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. In 1955, three years after ending his studies, he won a Prize and organized his first exhibition. At the end of the same year, he decided to leave for Paris. He applied as free student to the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

. He moved to the south of France, in Carpentras, but frequently traveled to Paris. A first personal exhibition took place in 1958 at the Arlette Chabaud Gallery in

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

. He won the Painting Prize from the

Avignon Festival The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival (), is an annual arts festival held in the French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Jean ...

with ''La femme en noir'', today part of the Fondation Calvet collection (

Calvet Museum The Calvet Museum (, ) is the main museum in Avignon. Since the 1980s the collection has been split between two buildings, with the fine arts housed in an 18th-century hôtel particulier and a separate Lapidary Museum (Avignon), Lapidary Museum in ...

). He also won the

Painting Prize the same year. A second exhibition, shared with his friend Paul Surtel, was organized in Carpentras (Chapelle du Collège) in 1960. In 1962, unhappy with his work, he chose to return to Paris. In 1963 he visited Italy, then Brittany. In 1966, he returned to Provence, but spent several summers in Brittany. The following decade saw him visit Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Italy, and show his work in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(Egypt Cultural Center), in

(Ducastel Gallery), in

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

(Town-Hall) and in

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

. During each trip he visited museums and admired the great masters. In 1975, Shahda fell seriously ill. He kept on painting, but felt threatened: "One must snatch work from passing time.". During a long remission, he worked on portraits - including those of fellow artists such as painter Michel Bonnaud or writer

Pierre Autin-Grenier Pierre Autin-Grenier (; 4 April 1947 – 12 April 2014) was a French author. The catalogue of the Bibliothèque nationale de France gives his date of birth as 1947, though later dates ranging through to 1953 are quoted on various web pages incl ...

- and self-portraits, oil or pastel drawing. Two exhibitions took place in Carpentras in 1981 and 1984. His health deteriorated again in 1985, but he kept on working harder than ever: still lifes, self-portraits and, despite illness and exhaustion, landscapes. He died from cancer during the summer of 1991 in Aix-en-Provence hospital. His widow, Anita, organized many posthumous exhibitions, in Paris, in various Provence towns, in Montpellier and in Ajaccio. She worked for years on a monograph which was published in 2014.

Work

The

Fondation Calvet La Fondation Calvet is an art foundation in Avignon, France, named for Esprit Calvet, who left his collections and library to it in 1810. The foundation maintains several museums and two libraries, with support from the town. The original legac ...

in Avignon owns two paintings by Shahda, ''La Femme en noir'' from 1958 and a ''Self-portrait'' from the late 70s. The Auberive Abbey and Musée Comtadin-Duplessis in Carpentras also host some of his work. His style is highly personal, but has a clear link with some great painters of the past (

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of Frans van Dyck, a wealt ...

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

Velázquez Velázquez, also Velazquez, Velásquez or Velasquez (, ), is a surname from Spain. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Velasco". References to "Velazquez" without a first name are often to the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez. Notable peo ...

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

and

Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...

, or

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

, Cézanne, Modigliani and Soutine), as well as two of his contemporaries,

Zoran Mušič Zoran Mušič (12 February 1909 – 25 May 2005), baptised as Anton Zoran Musič, was a Slovene painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He was the only painter of Slovene descent who managed to establish himself in the elite cultural circles of ...

and

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

, by the strength of his portraits and the refusal of abstract art. Artists like painters Lucie Geffré and Ronan Barrot and sculptor Marc Petit have been influenced by Shahda's work.

Exhibitions

* 1958 : Galerie Arlette Chabaud,

* 1960 : Chapelle du Collège,

(exhibition with Paul Surtel) * 1964 : Musée Lapidaire, Carpentras * 1966 : Galerie Ducastel, Avignon * 1967 : Musée Lapidaire, Carpentras * 1969 : Centre Culturel d'Egypte, Paris * 1971 : Galerie Ducastel,

* 1971 : Galerie

Lucy Krohg Lucy Krohg (née Cécile Marie Vidil; 6 April 1891 – 17 August 1977) was a French model, artist, dancer, and gallerist. Early life and family Cécile Marie Vidil was born on 6 April 1891, in Paris. She was the daughter of Cécile Vidil (née ...

, Paris * 1972 : Hôtel de Ville, Carpentras * 1974 : Galerie Ducastel, Avignon * 1974 : National Fair Club, Marseille * 1975 : Galerie Ducastel, Avignon * 1981 : Musée Duplessis and Chapelle du Collège, Carpentras * 1984 : La Charité, Carpentras

Posthumous exhibitions

* 1993 : Chapelle du Collège,

* 1994 : Musée Municipal,

Alès Alès () is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Until 1926, i ...

* 1995 : Château de Malijay, Jonquières * 1998 : Galerie Doudou Bayol,

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (; "Saint-Rémy of Provence"; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Sant Romieg de Provença'' and ''Sant Roumié de Prouvènço'' ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department ...

* 1998 : Ferme des Arts,

Vaison-la-Romaine Vaison-la-Romaine (; ) is a town in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. Vaison-la-Romaine is famous for its rich Roman ruins and mediaeval town and ca ...

* 1998 : Centre Culturel d'Egypte,

* 1999 : Espace Saint-Louis,

* 2000 : Chapelle du Grozeau,

Malaucène Malaucène (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Geography Malaucène is a typical provençal village located in Provence (South of France) at the foot of Mont Ventoux. P ...

* 2003 : Galerie Artset,

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

* 2006 : Chapelle du Collège,

* 2009 : Galerie Polad-Hardouin,

* 2011 : Galerie Anna-Tschopp,

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

* 2011 : Galerie Ardital,

* 2012 : Galerie de l'Ecusson,

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

* 2013 : Lazaret Ollandini, Musée Marc Petit,

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French language, French: ; or ; , locally: ; ) is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a communes of France, French commune, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Corse-du-Sud, and head o ...

* 2014 : Imprimerie Rimbaud,

Cavaillon Cavaillon (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.

, for the monograph publication

Publications

* 1984 : Magazine ''Rencontres'', #124 * 2005 : Magazine ''Azart'', #17 * 2009 : Exhibition catalog at Polad-Hardouin Gallery, ''Ibrahim Shahda, La Rinascita'' * 2009 : Magazine ''Vernissages'', #5, ''Ibrahim Shahda, Chronique d'une Survie'' * 2014 : ''Shahda'', monograph, by Anita Shahda ; Illustrations *

, ''Élodie Cordou, une présence'', Éditions du Chemin de fer, 2015; with paintings by Ibrahim ShahdaFiche du livre, sur le site de l'éditeur.
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External links

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahda, Ibrahim 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French male painters 1929 births 1991 deaths