11th May, 2023 12:00

Modern and Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art

 
Lot 31
 

31

TAHIA HALIM (EGYPTIAN 1919-2003)

NUBIAN WOMEN BRAIDING HAIR
oil on canvas
signed in English T. HALIM lower left
image: 50 x 65cm; 19 3/4 x 25 1/2in
framed: 64 x 79cm; 25 1/4 x 39in

Provenance:
Private Collection, London

Born in 1919 in the city of Dongola, Sudan, Tahia Halim showed a keen interest in art at an early age while her father worked as the chamberlain of King Fouad (1868-1936) in Cairo. After finishing her secondary education in the privacy of the royal palace she enrolled at Cairo’s Academy of Fine Arts. She later joined the ateliers of the Lebanese painter Youssef al-Traboulsi and the Greek artist Alecco Jerome. Through her post-secondary education, her exposure to fine art was mainly limited to academic or impressionist styles, a product of the Euro-centric curriculum of the Academy, and the influence of her instructors. In 1940, Tahia Halim met avant-garde artist Hamed Abdalla (1917-1985), whom she married five years later and followed to Paris in 1949 where they joined the Academie Julian.

Halim returned to Cairo in 1951 and after a trip to Nubia (the land of her birth) in 1959, became fascinated by its rural way of life. Like many Egyptian artists of the time, her work was informed by the political environment, in which Egyptians sought to remove themselves from colonial authority. Struck by the authentic 'character' of Nubian women, whom she perceived to represent centuries old traditions of land, she found them to be humble, serene, and generous. Focusing on depicting their grace and beauty, which she highlighted in the warm earthy palette of her works, these women further served to strenghten her nationalist ideals and to reinforce her privileged position in life. An acclaimed artist with works in several international collections, Halim is also known to be the first woman awarded the Guggenheim International Prize, an honour she gained in 1958.

Sold for £26,000


 

NUBIAN WOMEN BRAIDING HAIR
oil on canvas
signed in English T. HALIM lower left
image: 50 x 65cm; 19 3/4 x 25 1/2in
framed: 64 x 79cm; 25 1/4 x 39in

Provenance:
Private Collection, London

Born in 1919 in the city of Dongola, Sudan, Tahia Halim showed a keen interest in art at an early age while her father worked as the chamberlain of King Fouad (1868-1936) in Cairo. After finishing her secondary education in the privacy of the royal palace she enrolled at Cairo’s Academy of Fine Arts. She later joined the ateliers of the Lebanese painter Youssef al-Traboulsi and the Greek artist Alecco Jerome. Through her post-secondary education, her exposure to fine art was mainly limited to academic or impressionist styles, a product of the Euro-centric curriculum of the Academy, and the influence of her instructors. In 1940, Tahia Halim met avant-garde artist Hamed Abdalla (1917-1985), whom she married five years later and followed to Paris in 1949 where they joined the Academie Julian.

Halim returned to Cairo in 1951 and after a trip to Nubia (the land of her birth) in 1959, became fascinated by its rural way of life. Like many Egyptian artists of the time, her work was informed by the political environment, in which Egyptians sought to remove themselves from colonial authority. Struck by the authentic 'character' of Nubian women, whom she perceived to represent centuries old traditions of land, she found them to be humble, serene, and generous. Focusing on depicting their grace and beauty, which she highlighted in the warm earthy palette of her works, these women further served to strenghten her nationalist ideals and to reinforce her privileged position in life. An acclaimed artist with works in several international collections, Halim is also known to be the first woman awarded the Guggenheim International Prize, an honour she gained in 1958.