Alfred Dabat

Biography of Alfred Dabat ( 1859-1935 )

Born in Blida in Algeria in 1869, Alfred Dabat studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Algiers and then in Paris where he worked in the studios of Benjamin-Constant and Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian between 1893 and 1898. He won the Chenavard and Fortin awards and returned to Algeria in 1899.   

His paintings of Algeria met a great success. Alfred Dabat exhibited at the Salon des Artistes français from 1899 to 1935 and became a member of the jury of the Prix de Rome and the jury of the French Artists who awarded him the Henner Prize.   

Dabat did not participate in the artistic manifestations in Algeria. His name appears in 1922 in the catalog of the Society of Algerian Orientalist artists. In 1928, he exhibited the "Baigneuses", "Ouled Naïl" and the State bought him "The Red Dancer", the "Woman with Orange" and the "Baigneuses". His work occupied a prominent place in the modern painting section of the municipal museum of Algiers, created in 1908.  

The paintings of Alfred Dabat transcribed with poetry and vivacity the atmosphere of the streets and terraces of the Kasbah of Algiers. His taste for bright colors highlighted  the wealth of costumes and adornments of Berber women.