Lot Essay
Baya Mahieddine, known as Baya, was born Fatima Haddad in 1931 and stands as one of Algeria’s most celebrated artists. Orphaned at five, she was under the care of her grandmother until the age of eleven, when Marguerite Caminat Benhoura stepped in as Baya’s protector, fostering her education particularly in the realm of art. Baya was discovered by the art dealer Aimé Maeght in Algiers, who, captivated by her gouache paintings, decided to present her work in a solo exhibition in his gallery. Following her return to Algeria and her arranged marriage in 1953, Baya would stop painting for the next decade, the period that coincided with the Algerian War. Once she resumed painting, her work again found its audiences in Algiers and Paris.
Baya’s distinctive style unfolds through vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and imaginative depictions of human figures, animals, and flowers, imbuing her work with a dream-like quality. Drawing from her imagination, cultural surroundings and her daily life, Baya populated her works with joyfully rendered women, such as in the present work, Femme au vase fleuri bleu, a gouache on paper from 1986, which is a particular emblematic example of her practice. Baya’s artworks transcend the colonial legacy, orientalist representations, and sexism, leaving an indelible mark on society. Today, Baya, who died in 1998, remains one of the greatest cultural icons of Algeria.
Baya’s distinctive style unfolds through vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and imaginative depictions of human figures, animals, and flowers, imbuing her work with a dream-like quality. Drawing from her imagination, cultural surroundings and her daily life, Baya populated her works with joyfully rendered women, such as in the present work, Femme au vase fleuri bleu, a gouache on paper from 1986, which is a particular emblematic example of her practice. Baya’s artworks transcend the colonial legacy, orientalist representations, and sexism, leaving an indelible mark on society. Today, Baya, who died in 1998, remains one of the greatest cultural icons of Algeria.