The dean of Algerian plastic artists and the first director of the National School of Fine Arts, Bachir Yelles, passed away Tuesday in Algiers at the age of 100, according to his relatives.
Plastic artist Bachir Yelles was born in Tlemcen in 1921. After his high school studies there, he joined the School of Fine Arts in Algiers in 1943, where, a year later, he participated in the first exhibition of painting and miniatures.
Between 1947 and 1950, Bachir Yelles joined the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he organized his first solo exhibition in 1948 and promoted the heritage of Tlemcen in numerous artworks.
After the independence of Algeria and the recovery of its national sovereignty, the deceased took over the management of the National School of Fine Arts in Algiers, and was one of the founders of the National Union of Plastic Arts, which organized its first salon in 1964.
At the end of the sixties of the last century, the deceased produced many postage stamps dedicated to traditional Algerian costumes, carpets and handicrafts, as well as many murals that decorate public institutions and the headquarters of Algerian diplomatic representations abroad.
Since 2000, many exhibitions and honors have been devoted to the deceased, the last of which was organized in May 2022 by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in the capital, while a hall in the National Museum of Fine Arts bears his name.
The body of the deceased, Bachir Yelles, will be buried today, Wednesday, in the cemetery of Sidi M’hamed (the capital), after the dohr prayer, according to his relatives.
