Estate of the Artist

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Born in Morocco and educated as a traditional healer, Ahmed Ben Driss El Yacoubi draws on his own spiritual life experiences in his artistic practice. The artist’s oeuvre is highlighted by his use of enigmatic and abstract compositions. Yacoubi was fortunate enough to meet Francis Bacon in 1950s Tangier, after it was made an international zone and popular site for Western artists. Yacoubi is one of the only artists who Bacon chose to mentor in painting. Consequentially, Bacon adopted a genuine affection for Yacoubi and his art. It is during this time while teaching Yacoubi his technique of oil painting, that Bacon gave Yacoubi old canvases with👍 his own discarded paintings to practice oil painting on the verso of the canvases. Back in London, Bacon organised an exhibition for Yacoubi at the Hanover Gallery in 1957 and his work was critically praised: “his drawings would have delighted the eye of Paul Klee”.

The present lot is exemplary of Yacoubi’s practice. Wonderfully abstract, Mirage gives the impression of an optical illusion occurring between the imagined spaces of land and sky. This illusion is highlighted through Yacoubi’s mastered use of oils, seen in the heated air rising above the ground into the pastel blue centre of the canvas, forming Bacon-inspired pink and red tones. Yacoubi’s understanding of oils is delicately shown in the tangible build-up of colour and geometric patterning by use of palette knife. The thin lines of Yacoubi’s palette knife creates a deceptive depth in colour, foregrounded by burnt umber and deep yellow ochre tones. Mesmerising layers of peach paint cover the lower edge of the canvas, completing the optical illusion displayed on the canvas. Yacoubi’s work is still held by major establishments, such as MoMA in New York and Barjeel Art Fo♛undation in Sharjah.🍸 

Bibliography

London, Hanover Gallery, Ahmed Yacoubi Paintings and Drawings, 10 October-1 November 1957, reviewed by Andrew Forge, Round the London Galleries, The Listener, Issue 58, p.74

Francis Bacon ꦅ(online). 2022. Available:😼 //www.francis-bacon.com/content/ahmed-yacoubi. Accessed 12 October 2022.