by PH
BayaMahieddineis a revolutionary Algerian Modernist painter whose paintings influenced the likes of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. Baya was greatly influenced by nature, her childhood, as well as her home country Algeria. The self-taught artist preferred to chart her own path as her works did not follow any rules.
Born Fatma Haddad in 1931 to a poor family in Fort-de-l’Eau (currently Bordj-el-Kiffan) near Algiers, Baya was orphaned at age five. Her grandmother took her in and sometimes sent her to her workplace at a colonial horticultural farm.
At age 11, she caught the attention of the owner’s sister, Marguerite Caminat Benhoura, who decided to take her home initially as her servant. Not long after their arrangement, Benhoura adopted her in 1942.
Baya’s new adoptive mother’s passion was collecting artworks and painting. Some of her art collections included pieces from Georges Braque and Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró.
Baya, while living with Benhoura, also started showing an interest in art. She made sculptures of females and animals from clay, and Benhoura encouraged her to build her craft. It was around this time that Baya got her first set of art materials and homeschooling.
Most of her work was inspired by her personal experiences and the traditional tribal art of Algeria which are recurrent in her works. Women, nature, and animals were the themes in her work.
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