Aldine Canvas.

Description of the work

Aldine (Franco-Egyptian painter, 1917 – 1992)

Untitled Oil on canvas Dimensions: 100 × 69 cm (frame)
Signed lower right, dated 1972

Some losses on the edges, probably related to an earlier framing. In this composition from 1972, Aldine deploys an enigmatic landscape where abstraction mixes with architectural and mineral evocation. Against a vibrant background of intense blues, dark shapes, close to columns or ruins, seem to emerge from an indeterminate space, oscillating between marine horizon and cosmic landscape.

The fluid lines and bursts of material that run across the surface reinforce the impression of a world in suspense, both under construction and in decomposition. Faithful to his pictorial language, Aldine combines gestures and symbolic suggestion, inviting the viewer to an open reading, between memory, mystery and imagination.

Abdellatif ALDINE (1917 – 1992) Franco-Egyptian painter and sculptor
Born in Cairo in 1917, Abdellatif Ala El Din, known as Aldine, is a singular figure of the second School of Paris. Initially trained in physical and chemical sciences at the Sorbonne, he turned towards a scientific career before a decisive encounter, in the mid-1940s, with the art critic Michel Ragon, encouraged him to devote himself fully to painting and the plastic arts.

Living in France from 1953, he successively held the positions of cultural attaché at the Egyptian Embassy in Paris, then Director of the Education Bureau and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. In the late 1950s, he definitively chose the artistic path and set up his studio in Montparnasse.

As much a painter as a sculptor, Aldine quickly established himself with powerful works, such as The Man from Hiroshima, presented in numerous exhibitions in France and abroad. His artistic career oscillated for a long time between figuration and abstraction, before evolving towards an almost exclusively abstract expression. His paintings, with evocative titles – The Crucified, The Templars – reflect a spiritual and mystical quest. His pictorial language is characterized by broad brushstrokes, curvilinear contours, and an exploration of major thematic cycles: Nebulae, Steles, Whirlwinds.

Aldine's works are now held in important public and private collections, including the Centre Pompidou (Beaubourg), the Musée national d'art moderne (MNAM), the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille, as well as the Aga Khan collection.