Ahmed Yacoubi
Encyclopedia
Ahmed Yacoubi was a Moroccan painter and story-teller. He was born in Fes
, Morocco
in 1931.
Paul Bowles translated Ahmed Yacoubi's stories from Maghrebi (Moroccan Arabic
) 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, CT.
Paul Bowles
had met the young Ahmed ben Driss el-Yacoubi in the autumn of 1947 in Fez, and encouraged him to draw and paint the characters of his tales. Bowles took Ahmed to England
, Spain
, Italy
, Turkey
, India
, Malaysia, Hong Kong
and Japan
.
In 1952 Bowles travelled with Yacoubi to his island, Taprobane, located off the southern coast of Ceylon where Yacoubi prepared memorable meals for their guest Peggy Guggenheim
(mentioned in her book Confessions of an Art Addict) and where she purchased several of his drawings.
Bowles arranged for Yacoubi's first exhibition at the Gallimard Agency bookshop on the Boulevard Pasteur in Tangier
. His art was highly acclaimed and 28 works were sold. Further exhibitions were held at the Galerie Clan in Madrid
and the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York
in 1952. Francis Bacon
, introduced him to working in oil paint, arranged for an exhibition of Yacoubi's art in 1957 at the Hanover Gallery in London. Other exhibitions were held throughout the 1960s,70s and 80s in Tangier, Casablanca, and all over the world, receiving serious acclaim with is paintings being collected by the world's top collectors.
Yacoubi married an American writer in 1957 in Tangier and continued to exhibit in Tangier, London, New York, Cleveland, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Paris, and Rome. In 1965 Mr. and Mrs. Yacoubi had their daughter Karima Yacoubi who demonstrated at an early age the same highly creative talents as both her parents.
Ahmed Yacoubi continued to develop from what was originally described as a "primitive" style to a highly complex, sophisticated and secret method of layering in oil that amazed viewers and critics alike.
In 1966 Yacoubi moved to the United States
, having been divorced from Ruth, and continued to work, exhibit and travel, meeting and entertaining diverse and international artists, writers, collectors, politicians and connoisseurs.
Befriending Peggy Hitch**** and her husband Walter Bowart
, owner and publisher of Omen Press, Yacoubi collaborated with friends at their ranch in Tucson and eventually published his first cookbook, "The Alchemist's Cookbook" that became something of a collector's item. Returning and moving 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 1978. 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.
Since then, many of his fine paintings were stolen from a storage unit in London, his daughter Karima died suddenly of health complications in London in 2004, and his work has yet to receive the full measure of study and appreciation that many believe they deserve.
Fes, Morocco
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
in 1931.
Paul Bowles translated Ahmed Yacoubi's stories from Maghrebi (Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic
Moroccan Arabic is the variety of Arabic spoken in the Arabic-speaking areas of Morocco. For official communications, the government and other public bodies use Modern Standard Arabic, as is the case in most Arabic-speaking countries. A mixture of French and Moroccan Arabic is used in business...
) 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, CT.
Paul Bowles
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
had met the young Ahmed ben Driss el-Yacoubi in the autumn of 1947 in Fez, and encouraged him to draw and paint the characters of his tales. Bowles took Ahmed to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Malaysia, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
In 1952 Bowles travelled with Yacoubi to his island, Taprobane, located off the southern coast of Ceylon where Yacoubi prepared memorable meals for their guest Peggy Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
(mentioned in her book Confessions of an Art Addict) and where she purchased several of his drawings.
Bowles arranged for Yacoubi's first exhibition at the Gallimard Agency bookshop on the Boulevard Pasteur in Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
. His art was highly acclaimed and 28 works were sold. Further exhibitions were held at the Galerie Clan in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1952. Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
, introduced him to working in oil paint, arranged for an exhibition of Yacoubi's art in 1957 at the Hanover Gallery in London. Other exhibitions were held throughout the 1960s,70s and 80s in Tangier, Casablanca, and all over the world, receiving serious acclaim with is paintings being collected by the world's top collectors.
Yacoubi married an American writer in 1957 in Tangier and continued to exhibit in Tangier, London, New York, Cleveland, Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong, Paris, and Rome. In 1965 Mr. and Mrs. Yacoubi had their daughter Karima Yacoubi who demonstrated at an early age the same highly creative talents as both her parents.
Ahmed Yacoubi continued to develop from what was originally described as a "primitive" style to a highly complex, sophisticated and secret method of layering in oil that amazed viewers and critics alike.
In 1966 Yacoubi moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, having been divorced from Ruth, and continued to work, exhibit and travel, meeting and entertaining diverse and international artists, writers, collectors, politicians and connoisseurs.
Befriending Peggy Hitch**** and her husband Walter Bowart
Walter Bowart
Walter Howard Bowart was an American leader in the counterculture movement of the 1960s, founder and editor of the first underground newspaper in New York City, the East Village Other, and author of the book Operation Mind Control.-Life and career:Born Walter Howard Kirby in Omaha, Nebraska,...
, owner and publisher of Omen Press, Yacoubi collaborated with friends at their ranch in Tucson and eventually published his first cookbook, "The Alchemist's Cookbook" that became something of a collector's item. Returning and moving 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 1978. 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.
Since then, many of his fine paintings were stolen from a storage unit in London, his daughter Karima died suddenly of health complications in London in 2004, and his work has yet to receive the full measure of study and appreciation that many believe they deserve.
External links
- Ahmed Yacoubi official website
- Ahmed Yacoubi on Paul Bowles' official website