Jellal Ben Abdallah Tunisian, 1921-2017

Biography
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Jellal Ben Abdallah draws on his ancestral imagination to honour fragments from his adolescence and childhood. He proceeds with a technical and delicate minuteness in depicting animate and inanimate subjects altogether. After studying at the Lycée Carnot, he settled in Sidi Bou Saïd in 1939, where his artistic journey began. Since then, he has neither lived elsewhere nor pursued any other profession.
 
His inaugural exhibition took place in 1939 and became an annual tradition, as he held one every year thereafter (including during the war years, as he himself noted). Beyond the shores of Tunisia, Jellal Ben Abdallah has exhibited in Stockholm, Paris, Madrid, and Cairo. His works have also been presented, as part of exhibitions of Tunisian painters, in most major capitals.
 
He was part of the first generation of modern Tunisian painters and a core member of the École de Tunis, which he joined in 1944. This group played a central role in shaping a modern national artistic identity in Tunisia.
 
In addition to painting, Jellal Ben Abdallah worked on architectural decoration, including the Tunisian Pavilion, the Cité Universitaire in Paris, and the Brussels Universal Exhibition of 1958. He also explored mosaics, stained glass, murals, and ceramics. He also collaborated with the Tunisian state after independence, contributing to the development of a national visual culture through public commissions and the design of several series of postage stamps.
 
Throughout his career, Ben Abdallah exhibited extensively and took part in numerous group exhibitions, primarily in the Arabic-speaking world and Western Europe. He participated in the 29th Venice Biennale in 1958 and the 10th São Paulo Biennial in 1969, representing Tunisia alongside Ammar Farhat, Ali Bellagha, Brahim Dhahak, and Abdelaziz Gorgi, among others.
Works
Exhibitions