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Born in 1910, Aly Ben Salem is considered one of the pioneers of modern Tunisian painting, he belongs to a generation of Tunisian modernist who grew up during the country long struggle for independence and expressed patriotism through art.
Ben Salem talent was recognized during his time in high school, pushing the young man toward a career in fine art: he frequented creative social circles, and the vibrant city`s flourishing art scene boasted numerous galleries, theatres and cafes.
In 1930 Ben Salem started attending the School of fine art Tunis, four years later he had his first solo exhibition in the prominent gallery Rotande du colisée. After graduation he moved to Sidi Bou Said, which was then considered the “ Montmartre of Tunis ” because of its bustling arts culture, it housed many famous painters and writers. Aly Ben Salem lived there for a year, leading a bohemian life while searching for a job. It was s period during which the artist honed his senses, developing and refining the notions of beauty and perfection which would become the essence of his works
Between the 1930s and 1940s, Aly Ben Salem’s work took a narrative approach focusing on Tunis and its locals, depicting everything from souks to artisans to wedding scenes. It was an academic period, during which the artist took stylistic inspiration from the traditions of the Italian Renaissance and its revival of ancient Greek and Roman.
The 40s and 50s was a period of the artist’s career characterized by international exhibitions, extended stays in Paris and Stockholm, and relationships with artists such as Picasso, Braque, and Dali. In these formative years, the artist began to incorporate different elements in his paintings that would eventually become hallmarks of his aesthetic, including the rich palette of blues, whites, yellows, and pinks for which he would later be known.
By the end of the 1950s, Aly Ben Salem had abandoned his prior investment in academic painting traditions. From this point until his death in 2001, his work eschewed linear perspective and three-dimensionality in Favor of flat, vertical space. His subjects became motionless in an attempt to deconstruct traditional figurations. This third and final period was impacted by the artist’s second wife, Swedish textile artist Kerstin Nilsson, who became his muse. Ben Salem also developed a passion for mosaics, integrating them into his work as a means of bridging modern art and traditional craftsmanship.
Ben Salem’s work from this period shows attention to the rules of perspective, symmetry, and anatomical proportions developed during this pivotal moment in Western art history and codified by Leonardo Da Vinci.
He received numerous distinctions and honours throughout his life, including the rank of Officer of the Swedish Royal Order in 1973, La Médaille de la Villa de Paris, Le Mérite National des Lettres et Arts de France in 1976.
In 1992 he was promoted by the Tunisian Government to the dignity of the Grand Officer of Arts and Letters, and receives a medal from the Tunisian Association of Aesthetics and Poetics in 1996.
Aly Ben Salem is remembered as a nationalist whose lifelong rejection of colonialism and commitment to Tunisian independence shone through his art practice.