Biography
Born in 1929 in a village near El Jadida, a coastal town in Morocco, Chaïbia Talal’s childhood was cut short by an early marriage when she was only 13 years old. By the age of 15, the young woman was already a widow and mother. As much to say that nothing predestined her to become a painter. However, ten years later, a simple dream pushed her to start painting, under the encouragement of her eldest son. Having never received an education and having attended no master, Chaïbia creates by force of circumstance a free painting which rejects the academisms and in which she can dare everything, which will be characterized by her peers of “naive” painting. Very quickly, her paintings are discovered and the talent of the young artist recognized, as well in Morocco as in Europe, where naive art already has many amateurs. Talal’s very first exhibition was organized in Casablanca in 1966. From then on, exhibitions followed one another, in Morocco but also in France, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and his works enriched numerous public and private collections throughout the world, notably that of the king of Morocco. In 2003, her career was rewarded by the gold medal of the French Academic Society of Education and Encouragement Arts Sciences Lettres that she received in Paris. Chaïbia Talal, one of the most popular artists of Morocco, died in Casablanca on March 30, 2004, at the age of 75.
