BRAHIM DHAHAK (1931-2011)
Self-taught painter and printmaker — between Tunis, Rome, and Paris
A self-taught painter and member of the School of Tunis, Brahim Dhahak undertook studies in Tunis in 1947 before joining the Artistic Academy of Rome, where he stayed from 1957 to 1961. This period marked a decisive turning point: in contact with Western culture and techniques, the talented autodidact became an accomplished master. A student of the painter Amerigo Bartoli and the master printmaker Macari, he refined his technical mastery and received, in 1961, the Carlo Giviera prize.
At the age of 30, he returned to Tunisia and taught drawing in Sfax. But disagreements with the school's management led him to resign, preferring to preserve his artistic independence.
A self-taught painter and member of the School of Tunis, Brahim Dhahak undertook studies in Tunis in 1947 before joining the Artistic Academy of Rome, where he stayed from 1957 to 1961. This period marked a decisive turning point: in contact with Western culture and techniques, the talented autodidact became an accomplished master. A student of the painter Amerigo Bartoli and the master printmaker Macari, he refined his technical mastery and received, in 1961, the Carlo Giviera prize.
At the age of 30, he returned to Tunisia and taught drawing in Sfax. But disagreements with the school's management led him to resign, preferring to preserve his artistic independence.
His first solo exhibition was held in Tunis in 1964, before a stay at the Cité des Arts in Paris in 1972. From then on, he exhibited regularly in Tunisia and abroad, in the context of solo and group exhibitions.
An accomplished printmaker, he produced an important body of work in this field in his studio in Sidi Bou Saïd. His creations earned him the Grand Prix of the City of Tunis in 1991, and then the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1994.
Brahim Dhahak embodies the image of a complete artist, nourished by the dialogue between Tunisian tradition and European know-how, whose technical rigor is allied with a profoundly Mediterranean sensitivity.
An accomplished printmaker, he produced an important body of work in this field in his studio in Sidi Bou Saïd. His creations earned him the Grand Prix of the City of Tunis in 1991, and then the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1994.
Brahim Dhahak embodies the image of a complete artist, nourished by the dialogue between Tunisian tradition and European know-how, whose technical rigor is allied with a profoundly Mediterranean sensitivity.
Exhibitions
