Abdelhalim HEMCHE (Tlemcen 1908- Fontenay le Briis 1979)

Portrait of a young girl Oil on canvas of origin 46 x 38 cm Signed lower left and dated A. Hemche 46 (Restoration near the hand). Abdel-Halim Hemche (1908 - Paris 1979) lived between Algeria, Morocco and France where he was, notably, the first Algerian painter to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. First of all a student of Cauvy at the National School of Fine Arts in Algiers, he was awarded several scholarships before being appointed inspector of Moroccan arts in 1929. In 1937, he took part in the Universal Exhibition in Paris, and on this occasion created the decorations for the Moorish café in the Algerian pavilion. From the 1940s onwards, he regularly participated in the Salon des Artistes Français and the Société des Beaux-Arts de la France d'Outre-Mer. After 1962, he taught drawing at the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris.