International contemporary art platform1925–11.07.2016
Ale Felege Selam
Ale Felege Selam (1925–2016) was an Ethiopian artist and a founder of national Ethiopian painting. He established and served as the first director of the Addis Ababa Art School from 1957. He studied at an art school in Chicago and participated in the 1961 Modern Art of Ethiopia exhibition in Moscow.
Biography
Ale Felege Selam was born in 1925 in the Selale region of Ethiopia. He is recognized as one of the founders of national painting in Ethiopia. In 1957, he established and became the first director of the School of Fine Arts in Addis Ababa. He received his artistic education studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1961, he participated in the exhibition "Contemporary Art of Ethiopia," held in Moscow. Ale Felege Selam's body of work includes portraits of state figures and ordinary people, with notable works such as "Portrait of a Man in White" (1952) and "Female Portrait" (1961). In addition to portraits, he created lyrical landscapes and genre paintings. Within monumental art, Ale Felege Selam executed murals in several churches in Addis Ababa and its surroundings. Ale Felege Selam died in 2016.
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