Mohamed Melehi (Moroccan b. 1936) Two Works: African Wave III

Mohamed Melehi (Moroccan, b. 1936) Two Works: African Wave III , 1969 and Untitled [Arc] , 1969 Wave signed, dated, and inscribed "MELEHI 1969. Casablanca" on the reverse and identified on a label affixed to the stretcher; Arc signed, dated, and inscribed "MELEHI 69 CASABLANCA" on the reverse; acrylic on canvas, sizes to 36 x 42 in. (91.4 x 106.7 cm), Wave framed, Arc unframed. Condition: Wave with minor abrasions l.r., minor surface grime, craquelure; Arc with minor canvas deformation, abrasions, water staining, craquelure. Provenance: Sold to benefit the Temple Beth Israel and St. James Catholic Church, both of Danielson, Connecticut. N.B. Melehi attended the Escuela Preparatoria de Bellas Artes in Tétouan--the first school dedicated to fine art in Morocco--between 1953 and 1955. He continued his artistic training abroad at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and at Columbia University in New York. Upon returning to Morocco, he taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Casablanca from 1964 to 1969. Melehi is credited with founding the "Casablanca Group," which formed in response to Morocco's political independence from France and Spain in 1956. In a spirit of nationalist pride, Melehi and his colleagues rejected the Orientalist approach of their colonizers and promoted indigenous Arab culture and motifs in art, as derived from calligraphy and local crafts. Melehi organized the first exhibition of the Casablanca Group in 1965. (1