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| {{Short description|Moroccan painter (1928-1985)}} | |||
| '''Ahmed Yacoubi''' (1928–1985) was a Moroccan painter, fine chef and story-teller. He was born in ], ] in 1928. | |||
| {{refimprove|date=April 2018}} | |||
| {{Infobox person | |||
| ⚫ | | name = Ahmed Yacoubi | ||
| | image = | |||
| | caption = | |||
| | birth_date = {{Birth year|1928}} | |||
| | birth_place = ], ] | |||
| | death_date = December 25, {{death year and age|1985|1928}} | |||
| | known_for = Painter, playwright, author, storyteller. | |||
| ⚫ | | birth_name = Ahmed ben Driss El Yacoubi | ||
| ⚫ | }} | ||
| '''Ahmed ben Driss el Yacoubi''' (1928–1985) was a Moroccan ], playwright, author, and ]. He was born in ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ahmed Yacoubi |url=https://www.francis-bacon.com/content/ahmed-yacoubi |website=Francis Bacon |accessdate=June 14, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ahmed Yacoubi: The Occidental Tourist |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2017/04/verbatim/Occidental-Tourist |website=Brooklyn Rail |accessdate=June 14, 2020 |date=April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bowles |first1=Paul |title=Ahmed Yacoubi as Painter |url=http://www.paulbowles.org/yacoubipainter.html |website=Paul Bowles |accessdate=June 14, 2020}}</ref> | |||
| == Career == | |||
| A Moroccan art scholar describes Yacoubi as "the best cultural ambassador Morocco ever had", having created a prolific body of spellbinding drawings and oil paintings of a caliber surpassing anything having been made since the Renaissance. In the process he portrayed the intelligence and grace of someone from the highest level of education although his background was of the oral traditions of ancient Fez. In the course of his life he generously informed, entertained, and amazed the international elite with his knowledge of the Koran, Moroccan traditions, fine cooking, and independent artistic accomplishments. | |||
| ⚫ | Yacoubi met the American composer and writer ] in Fez in 1947, and later in Tangier. Yacoubi then began doing translations for Bowles. Bowles and his wife, novelist and playwright ], encouraged Yacoubi to draw and paint the characters in his own stories after seeing Yacoubi's illustrations of his translations. | ||
| Bowles was interested in recording music from different cultures, and invited Yacoubi to translate for him in Spain, Italy, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Bowles then transcribed Yacoubi's own stories from ] into English: "The Man and The Woman" (1956), "The Man Who Dreamed of Fish Eating Fish" (1956), and "The Game" (1961). Yacoubi's play ''The Night Before Thinking'' was published in the '']'' in 1961. In 1964, the play was produced by ] at their ] theater and at ]'s ] in ].<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. </ref><ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. </ref> Yacoubi also contributed to set design and construction for productions at La MaMa during the 1970s, including '']'' and ]'s '']'', directed by ] in 1970,<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. </ref> and ]'s ''Jilsa,'' directed by in 1974.<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. </ref> | |||
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| ⚫ | The Bowles arranged for Yacoubi's first exhibition of visual work at the ] bookshop on Boulevard Pasteur in ]. The exhibition was highly acclaimed, and 28 pieces were sold. Later exhibitions were held at the Galerie Clan in ], the ] in ] in 1952, the ] in ] 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 ] in New York, the ], and the ] also purchased his works. | ||
| Focused on recording different cultures' music for record labels in various countries, Paul Bowles invited Ahmed to continue to translate for him in ], ], ], ], ], ] and ] and then transcribed Yacoubi's own stories from ''Maghrebi'' (]) into English: "The Man and The Woman" (1956), "The Man Who Dreamed of Fish Eating Fish" (1956) and "The Game" (1961), and a play "The Night Before Thinking" which was published in the ''Evergreen Review'' in 1961 and later produced at The White Barn Theater in Westport, Connecticut. | |||
| ⚫ | In 1952, Bowles invited Yacoubi to his island, ], off the southern coast of ]. While visiting the island, Yacoubi prepared meals for fellow guest ], which she mentions in her memoir, ''Confessions of an Art Addict'' (1997)''.'' Guggenheim purchased several of Yacoubi's drawings. | ||
| ⚫ | The Bowles arranged for Yacoubi's first exhibition of |
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| Ahmed Yacoubi evolved from what was described as a primitive style to a sophisticated secret technique of layering in oil glazes that produced canvases of great depth and complexity. Although Yacoubi had already begun painting in oil, ] further encouraged his work by painting four small canvases blue and telling him to "Paint!" according to an anecdote by ]. Bacon and Yacoubi painted together and remained friends for the duration of their lives. | |||
| ⚫ | In 1952 |
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| In 1966, Yacoubi moved to the ] and continued to work prolifically, exhibit, and travel. He met and hosted a diversity of international artists, writers, art collectors, and politicians. In New York City, he befriended Peggy Hitchcock and her husband, ], founder of Omen Press. Yacoubi collaborated with friends at the couple's ranch in ] and, through this collaboration, published his cookbook, ''The Alchemist's Cookbook''. | |||
| Although Ahmed had begun painting in oil, upon meeting in Tangier, ] catalyzed him further by, according to Allen Ginsberg, painting four small canvases blue and telling him to 'Paint'! The two collaborated and painted together, remaining friends for the duration of their lives. | |||
| ] curated a Yacoubi retrospective at ] in 1989, after his death in 1985. The retrospective included a production of ''The Night Before Thinking'' and an exhibition at La MaMa's nonprofit gallery space, La Galleria, at 47 Great Jones Street.<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. </ref> | |||
| Further exhibitions followed in 1957 at the ] and worldwide throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, receiving serious acclaim with his paintings being collected by the world's top collectors, including the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, La Musee de l'Art Moderne in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paolo, Brazil. | |||
| == Personal life == | |||
| Yacoubi lived and travelled with an American writer named Ruth Marthen and in 1965 in Tangier had their beautiful daughter Karima Yacoubi who demonstrated at an early age the same highly creative talents as both of her parents. Yacoubi continued to exhibit in Tangier, London, New York, Cleveland, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Paris, and Rome. | |||
| Yacoubi lived and travelled with an American writer named Ruth Marthen. In 1959, she gave birth to a daughter, Karima Yacoubi, in ]. Karima died of respiratory problems in London in 2004 at the age of 44. In New York City, ] found Yacoubi a home and studio on ], where he met the artist Carol Cannon in 1976. They lived and painted together for seven years, and continued as friends and collaborators after the relationship ended. | |||
| Yacoubi died of lung cancer on December 25, 1985, at the age of 57. | |||
| Ahmed Yacoubi evolved what was originally described as a "primitive" style to a highly complex, sophisticated and secret technique of layering in oil glazes that produced canvases of mesmerizing depth and complexity, amazing viewers and critics alike. | |||
| == References == | |||
| In 1966 Yacoubi moved to the ] and continued to work prolifically, exhibit and travel, meeting and being host to diverse and international artists, writers, collectors, politicians and connoisseurs. | |||
| <references /> | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| Befriending Peggy Hitchcock and her husband ], owner and publisher of Omen Press, Yacoubi collaborated with friends at their ranch in ] and eventually published his first cookbook, "The Alchemist's Cookbook" that became something of a collector's item. Returning to New York, thanks to the support of Ellen Stewart (La Mama of the Off Off Broadway theatrical world) Yacoubi lived and painted on Great Jones Street in the East Village where he met the artist Carol Cannon in 1976. They lived and painted together for seven years, parting as friends and still collaborating on exhibits and projects such as the screenplay of his play "The Night Before Thinking". Three years later, Yacoubi received news of the robbery of his paintings and beautiful Moroccan antiques from his studio in Tangier simultaneous to his being diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on December 25, 1985, at the age of 57. | |||
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| ⚫ | {{Authority control}} | ||
| His heir, daughter Karima, died suddenly of respiratory problems in London in 2004 at the age of 44. | |||
| His work and life has yet to receive the full measure of study and appreciation that critics, collectors, and all of those who knew him and his work believe they deserve. In 2006 his remaining estate of work was purchased by Carol Cannon from Karima Yacoubi's heirs in order to preserve and further the public's knowledge of this great artist. An art enthusiast and agent from Morocco named Mohammed Tazi contacted Cannon to help promote the revival of his reputation in Morocco and suggested the return of Yacoubi's remains to Morocco which transpired through the direction of the King of Morocco and the signature of Yacoubi's son Soufian, whom the artist never had the opportunity to know. Yacoubi received an honorary burial in Tangier where he had a studio for decades, his grave overlooking the Mediterranean rather than the expected region of his family's native Fez. | |||
| Tazi's hard work and collaboration with Cannon came to an abrupt end when he withheld the sum of a major auction sale in Casablanca of "Man and His Objects" in December 2010. The painting is said to have been acquired for a museum in the United Arab Emirates. | |||
| Yacoubi's personality and unique work has begun to enjoy global appreciation again. The American Archives of Art, an arm of the Smithsonian Institution has requested Yacoubi's archives of letters, photographs, poetry, and newspaper articles. The French writer, Mona Thomas, published '''Tanger 54''' about a pastel portrait ''of'' Yacoubi mysteriously signed "William Burroughs" although likely done by Francis Bacon at William Burroughs apartment in Tangier in 1954. The pastel was featured in a major exhibit in The Lambert Collection in Avignon, France in 2013. The entries into Ahmed Yacoubi's Catalog Raisonne has greatly increased thanks to world-wide collectors submitting the information on the works of his that they still enjoy and usually obtained through some remarkable meeting with Yacoubi. An official and in-depth biography and monograph have been compiled by the art scholar Nadia Choukri who has also organized a retrospective of collected works expected to be presented in Casablanca. In June 2014, The Barjeel Art Foundation of Dubai acquired a large, untitled pastel colored oil painting at auction in Tangier. Two more works from French and Canadian collections are featured in Christie's Dubai auction of March 18, 2015. Ms. Anura Saparamadu is writing a book on artists who produced work while in Ceylon in which some of Yacoubi's vibrantly colored drawings and history are featured. '''My Years with Ahmed''' is being written by Cannon that reveals much of Yacoubi's history from 1976 through to present day. A major retrospective of his work is expected in North America in 2016. | |||
| Mr. Mohammed Tazi did not withhold the sale of the painting as the author of the article suggests. Instead he deposited Carol Cannon's share of the money in a bank account and wrote a letter for her to come and collect her money in Morocco because the auction house who took care of the sale of the painting did not keep the promise to transfer the money to Carol Cannon's account in The US and there was no way Mr. Tazi could have wired the money to Carol Cannon because of the ongoing exchange control in Morocco. Mr. Tazi sent a letter, still available, to Carol Cannon in this respect telling to come to Morocco where the money was waiting for her. Ms. Cannon had given ultimatums to Mr. Mohammed Tazi to get her money by February at the latest while the auction house was late in paying Mohammed Tazi who received the money in March. | |||
| It was a whole scheme by Carol Cannon to dispossess Mr. Tazi of the hard work he had put in the whole project for four years and who had attained excellent results that is the revival of Ahmed Yacoubi's work. Even the exhibitions list which is in Ms. Cannon's web site: www.ahmedyacoubi.com is the work of Mr. Tazi not of Ms. Cannon. | |||
| The whole correspondence by email between Ms. Carol Cannon and Mr. Mohammed Tazi is available from the latter to prove all the arguments put forward by Mr. Tazi. | |||
| As to "Tanger 54" written by Mona Thomas, it was a work unworthy of such a reputable author who gave a version of Ahmed Yacoubi's life completely erroneous, full of lies and pervert to serve the purpose of her book with the support of Ms. Cannon who had also the reputation of her forthcoming book in mind. In www.ahmedyacoubi.info Mr. Mohammed Tazi gives a completely different version of the whole story and even demonstrates that the famous "Norman Drawing" on which the whole Mona Thomas' book is based, is attributed to Brion Gysin, a very close friend of William Burroughs whose face is the subject of the drawing and therefore cannot be attributed to Francis Bacon, hypothesis confirmed by the Francis Bacon's Foundation to whom Mona Thomas had written two years before her book was published but despite the Foundation opinion attributes the drawing <ref>The Francis Bacon Foundation</ref> to Francis Bacon; more comments about the book can be found on www.ahmedyacoubi.info | |||
| <ref><ref><ref></ref></ref></ref>==External links== | |||
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| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Moroccan painter, fine chef and storyteller | |||
| | DATE OF BIRTH = 1928 | |||
| | PLACE OF BIRTH = Fez, Morocco | |||
| | DATE OF DEATH = 1985 | |||
| | PLACE OF DEATH = New York | |||
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Yacoubi, Ahmed}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Yacoubi, Ahmed}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 13:10, 14 February 2024
Moroccan painter (1928-1985) | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ahmed Yacoubi" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Ahmed Yacoubi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ahmed ben Driss El Yacoubi 1928 (1928) Fez, Morocco |
| Died | December 25, 1985 (aged 56–57) |
| Known for | Painter, playwright, author, storyteller. |
Ahmed ben Driss el Yacoubi (1928–1985) was a Moroccan painter, playwright, author, and storyteller. He was born in Fez, Morocco.
Career
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.
Bowles was interested in recording music from different cultures, and invited Yacoubi to translate for him in Spain, Italy, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Bowles then transcribed Yacoubi's own stories from Maghrebi into English: "The Man and The Woman" (1956), "The Man Who Dreamed of Fish Eating Fish" (1956), and "The Game" (1961). Yacoubi's play The Night Before Thinking was published in the Evergreen Review in 1961. In 1964, the play was produced by La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club at their East Village theater and at Lucille Lortel's White Barn Theater in Westport, Connecticut. Yacoubi also contributed to set design and construction for productions at La MaMa during the 1970s, including Arden of Faversham and Alfred Jarry's Ubu, directed by Andrei Serban in 1970, and Oh Taeseok's Jilsa, directed by Duk-Hyung Yoo in 1974.
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 Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the Sao Paolo 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.
Ahmed Yacoubi evolved from what was described as a primitive style to a sophisticated secret technique of layering in oil glazes that produced canvases of great depth and complexity. Although Yacoubi had already begun painting in oil, Francis Bacon further encouraged his work by painting four small canvases blue and telling him to "Paint!" according to an anecdote by Allen Ginsberg. Bacon and Yacoubi painted together and remained friends for the duration of their lives.
In 1966, Yacoubi moved to the United States and continued to work prolifically, exhibit, and travel. He met and hosted a diversity of international artists, writers, art collectors, and politicians. In New York City, he befriended Peggy Hitchcock and her husband, Walter Bowart, founder of Omen Press. Yacoubi collaborated with friends at the couple's ranch in Tucson and, through this collaboration, published his cookbook, The Alchemist's Cookbook.
Ellen Stewart curated a Yacoubi retrospective at La MaMa in 1989, after his death in 1985. The retrospective included a production of The Night Before Thinking and an exhibition at La MaMa's nonprofit gallery space, La Galleria, at 47 Great Jones Street.
Personal life
Yacoubi lived and travelled with an American writer named Ruth Marthen. In 1959, she gave birth to a daughter, Karima Yacoubi, in Tangier. Karima died of respiratory problems in London in 2004 at the age of 44. In New York City, Ellen Stewart found Yacoubi a home and studio on Great Jones Street, where he met the artist Carol Cannon in 1976. They lived and painted together for seven years, and continued as friends and collaborators after the relationship ended.
Yacoubi died of lung cancer on December 25, 1985, at the age of 57.
References
- "Ahmed Yacoubi". Francis Bacon. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- "Ahmed Yacoubi: The Occidental Tourist". Brooklyn Rail. April 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- Bowles, Paul. "Ahmed Yacoubi as Painter". Paul Bowles. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: The Night Before Thinking (1974a)". Accessed April 9, 2018.
- La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: The Night Before Thinking (1974b)". Accessed April 9, 2018.
- La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Ubu and Arden of Faversham (1970)". Accessed April 9, 2018.
- La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Jilsa (1974)". Accessed April 9, 2018.
- La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Special Event: 'Ahmed Yacoubi: A Retrospective' (1989)". Accessed April 9, 2018.
External links
- AhmedYacoubi.info
- AhmedYacoubi.com created by Carol Cannon
- Ahmed Yacoubi biography on Paul Bowles' website
- Yacoubi's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections