LA FETE
signed and dated in Arabic and English FH / 80 F.H lower centre
oil on canvas
38 x 45cm; 15 x 17 3/4in
48 x 65cm; 18 3/4in x 251/2in

Sold with a Certificate of Authenticity from Mazad & Art, Tangier

Property from a Private Collection, London

Provenance
Acquired from Mazad & Art, Tangier

Born in 1945 in Tetouan, Morocco, Fatima El-Farouj was a self-taught artist introduced to painting by her husband, the painter Hassan El-Farouj. In the 1960s, she started developing her exclusive style. Living and working in Rabat, she worked as a seamstress and transferred the skills she had gained in embroidery, sewing, and henna tattoo onto her canvases. Her free expression and naïve style evoke her craft, revealing an imaginary, joyous, universe full of vivid colours and symbols. Depicting genre scenes, landscapes, local customs, and celebration, they invite the viewer on a journey or even a dream where the Morocco and African aspects are omnipresent.

Together with Chaibia Tallal, she is regarded as one of the most talented Moroccan female artists of her generation. Her works can be found in important international collections, including that the of Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut.