Leading Egyptian painter dies
The famous realist painter, Tahiya Halim, died in Cairo on Saturday. She was 84
Halim died Saturday at her home in Cairo’s affluent Zamalek area, Egypt’s al Ahram newspaper reported Sunday. No cause of her death was given.
The top female painter dedicated her realist art to presenting Egyptian daily life and folklore.
Born to an Egyptian family of Turkish descent on 9 September 1919, Halim attended a few years of public elementary school.
She then continued her education at home with private teachers, a common practice of conservative families in the mid-1930s.
In cosmopolitan 1930s Egypt, Halim received painting lessons from Syrian, Greek and Egyptian artists, including painter Hamed Abd Allah, whom she later married.
Halim’s work simplified lines and abolished the third dimension, emphasising realism and proportion using bold colors. Her paintings included pieces about war and human suffering.
Her paintings were exhibited around the world, including New York’s Guggenheim Museum, and she received several awards and medals of excellence.
Halim and Abd Allah divorced after 12 years and she devoted the rest of her life to painting.