The Shape
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of Things
An early pioneer of Algerian modernism, Abdallah Benanteur was committed to abstraction. He believed that the artist should not be compelled to represent the world, but to live in it and engage with it. He moved to Paris in 1953 and titled this work in homage to the French impressionist painter Claude Monet and his famous garden at Giverny. The painting’s characteristic Algerianblue background may have been inspired by the artist’s love for his native country.”
The Block Museum of Art unveils a dazzling new exhibition that explores the wonders of the Arab art scene. BY J.P. ANDERSON
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rom Morocco and Palestine to Sudan, Qatar, Tunisia, Egypt and more, every fascinating corner of the Arab world is represented in the latest exhibition at Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art. Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s is comprised of nearly 90 paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints and examines how dramatic societal events—decolonization, war, mass migration, the oil boom and more—were reflected by artists in the region. For us viewers, it also offers a fascinating window into the Arab world’s dazzling variation in terms of culture, language, ethnicity and religion. Here, exhibition curator Suheyla Takesh of the UAEbased Barjeel Art Foundation talks us through some of the show’s most stunning pieces. Sept. 22-Dec. 4, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
Abdallah Benanteur (Algeria), “To Monet, Giverny” (1983, oil on canvas), 47 ¼ inches by 47 ¼ inches, collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
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