Ahmed Ben Driss El Yacoubi, (Moroccan 1928-1985),

拍品描述

Ahmed Ben Driss El Yacoubi, (Moroccan 1928-1985), "Les Grottes de Hercules": oil on canvas, framed 80 x 100cm. Provenance: Gifted by the artist to his friend the American author and composer Paul Bowles (1910-1999) from whom it was purchased by the present vendor Note: "Les Grottes de Hercules", the Caves of Hercules, are natural sea caves just outside Tangier where artists and writers including Paul Bowles, William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, would hold kiff parties. Barbara Hutton, the American millionairess also hosted more upmarket parties there. In 1986, the ashes of Gysin, a renowned artist and writer, were scattered in the caves Yacoubi met the American composer and writer Paul Bowles in Fez in 1947, and later in Tangier. Yacoubi then began doing translations for Bowles. Bowles and his wife, novelist and playwright Jane Bowles, encouraged Yacoubi to draw and paint the characters in his own stories after seeing Yacoubi's illustrations of his translations. The Bowles arranged for Yacoubi's first exhibition of visual work at the Gallimard bookshop on Boulevard Pasteur in Tangier. The exhibition was highly acclaimed, and 28 pieces were sold. Later exhibitions were held at the Galerie Clan in Madrid, the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York in 1952, the Hanover Gallery in London in 1957, and elsewhere throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. A wide range of notable collectors began acquiring his drawings and paintings, recognizing his talent and artistic integrity. The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art also purchased his works. In 1952, Bowles invited Yacoubi to his island, Taprobane, off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. While visiting the island, Yacoubi prepared meals for fellow guest Peggy Guggenheim which she mentions in her memoir, Confessions of an Art Addict (1997). Guggenheim purchased several of Yacoubi's drawings.

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