Abdelhak Benallou, born in 1992 in Chlef (Algeria), lives and works in Paris.
After five years of study at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Algiers, he graduated from the École Supérieure d’Art in Dunkirk in 2019, then from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2024. His work quickly gained recognition: in 2022, he was awarded a residency at the Villa Albertine in Chicago. That same year, he won the first prize of the second edition of the Prix Sarr, the Portrait Prize of the Friends of the Beaux-Arts, and was shortlisted for the Emerige Revelations Grant. Most recently, in 2025, he received the Fondation de France Prize during the “Félicités” exhibition of the Beaux-Arts de Paris.
His canvases, with their striking realism, first impress through their technical mastery. Yet beyond virtuosity, the true power of his work lies in the intimate, meticulous attention he gives to reality. His portraits and still lifes reflect a deeply personal gaze, sensitive to the detail of a face or the discreet beauty of an everyday object. Through a subtle play of artificial chiaroscuro, he creates an atmosphere where pictorial realism retains its aura of mystery, inviting viewers to look beyond appearances and enter a space of ambiguity and contemplation.