A writer, critic, politician, and foundational figure of African modernism, El-Salahi merges a range of influences in his work, from Sudanese decorative elements and Arabic calligraphy, which he has practiced since childhood, to the Western formal traditions he absorbed while studying at London's Slade School of Art in the mid-1950s. The Mosque, with its architectural minarets, suggestion of calligraphic forms in motion, and elongated, masklike figure, attests to these various inspirations. In 1964, El-Salahi received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to travel to New York, where he befriended artists including Romare Bearden, Richard Hunt, and Jacob Lawrence, and met MoMA's then-director Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who acquired this work for the collection the following year.
Gallery label from 2017.
A writer, critic, politician, and foundational African modernist, El-Salahi merges a range of influences in his work, from Sudanese decorative elements and Arabic calligraphy, which he has practiced since childhood, to the Western formal traditions he studied at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in the mid-1950s. The Mosque, with its architectural minarets, suggestion of calligraphic forms in motion, and elongated figure at right, attests to these various inspirations. One of a group of paintings made following the death of his father in October 1964, this work features imagery drawn from a series of resulting dreams. Unified by a pared-down palette and depicted with a notable flatness, its representational forms merge with geometric motifs to create a pulsating visual field. “The purpose,” El-Salahi has reflected, “is to evoke the essence rather than the physical reality: this is the truth that lies beneath all my works—an invitation to meditation.”
A founder of the Sudanese modern art movement known as the Khartoum School in 1960, El-Salahi expanded his knowledge of global modernism through travel to Mexico, Brazil, and the United States throughout the 1960s. In 1964 he received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to visit New York, where he befriended artists including Romare Bearden, Richard Hunt, and Jacob Lawrence and met MoMA’s founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., who acquired this work for the Museum’s collection the following year.
Publication excerpt from MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019)