Painter
Ihab Shaker
The late Ihab Shaker born in 1933, was one of Egypt’s most prominent oil painters of the twentieth century.
He was trained at the age of 14 by Italian Art professor Carlos Minutti, then joined the Egyptian Faculty of Fine Arts in 1952. Early in his career, he worked as a Press Cartoonist and Illustrator at El Gomhoreya Newspaper and in “Sabah El Kheir” Magazine among many others. In 1968, Ihab worked on animation with renowned cartoonist Paul Grimault, in Paris-France.
In 1974 His animated film “1,2,3” received “Le Prix de qualité du Centre national français” and represented France all over the world. “Love dance’’ received “Best Animation Film” in Cairo’s National Film Festival. In addition, he created Shamsa and Dana, characters in Majed Children Magazine and other children’s book drawings.
He had exhibitions in Japan, Austria, and Italy. Annecy International Animation Festival chose him to be the first Egyptian-African juror in 1993. The International Animated Film Association ASIFA asked him -the first African- to design its annual poster for international Animation day, in 2011. His unique paintings live on to remind us of his exceptional talent, for generations and generations to come.
