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Lot Essay
Throughout Fateh Moudarres's long life and rich artistic career, few subjects defined his oeuvre; his personal life tragedies, Modern Arab politics and ideologies and the ancient Assyrian civilisation were portrayed in a great number of his compositions. Although Fateh Moudarres was a writer and poet, he was all a painter. A highly nationalistic figure, he repeatedly refused to ignore the horrors carried out against Arabs across the Levant. Witnessing several wars and brutality during his 77 years of life, he was deeply affected by the Palestinian struggle following the first mass exile in 1948, as well as by the Lebanese Civil War, as Beirut was where he considered his second home. Using his canvases, Moudarres would apply his political and social ideologies to create some of his most beautiful compositions, such as the current work. His signature style and his depiction of a rich tapestry of captivating faces and fragments of mosaics became elements of his staggering success.
Depicting an exodus, this two-dimensional composition merges figures and walls. The figures can be seen clinging to one another; a mother is delicately depicted holding on to her child in a protective manner. To the left, one can notice a strong hand pointing as if the artist is addressing the viewers, asking them to stop and take a moment to understand the sufferings that followed the 1968 defeat. A younger peasant wears the traditional black headdress and joins the remainder of the crowd.
Further faces and figures merge with apparent fear; their destinies are a mystery at the merciless hands of these unfolding events. An ethereal appearance suggests a heavy sense of loss. Moudarres bathes his figures in the sunny, sandy tones reminiscent of the Palmyrian desert. Defining the figures contrastively through thick and black contouring Mamlouk lines, his visual vocabulary evokes the typical colours on Damascene walls. Moudarres' large compositions often allude to the religious Eucharistic walls, with icons hanging eternally under the sun. Always hinting at mythology in his works, Moudarres derives his inspiration from the rich lands of Mesopotamia. Preoccupied with the battles of the Arab people bearing the heavy burden of agony and oppression, he is known for sarcastically remarking how developed the Western world is, with its emphasis on human rights and culture, but always reminds others that it was the very same Western world that contributed to the destabilisation of certain regions such as the Middle East. Such harsh realities would trigger justifiable fury in most artists. Moudarres, however, refused to become bitter and never lost hope for the future of his people. The present work, a large painting that is typical of Moudarres' style, beautifully fuses all elements of his favoured iconography while they hint at the history and social battles of the Levant.
Depicting an exodus, this two-dimensional composition merges figures and walls. The figures can be seen clinging to one another; a mother is delicately depicted holding on to her child in a protective manner. To the left, one can notice a strong hand pointing as if the artist is addressing the viewers, asking them to stop and take a moment to understand the sufferings that followed the 1968 defeat. A younger peasant wears the traditional black headdress and joins the remainder of the crowd.
Further faces and figures merge with apparent fear; their destinies are a mystery at the merciless hands of these unfolding events. An ethereal appearance suggests a heavy sense of loss. Moudarres bathes his figures in the sunny, sandy tones reminiscent of the Palmyrian desert. Defining the figures contrastively through thick and black contouring Mamlouk lines, his visual vocabulary evokes the typical colours on Damascene walls. Moudarres' large compositions often allude to the religious Eucharistic walls, with icons hanging eternally under the sun. Always hinting at mythology in his works, Moudarres derives his inspiration from the rich lands of Mesopotamia. Preoccupied with the battles of the Arab people bearing the heavy burden of agony and oppression, he is known for sarcastically remarking how developed the Western world is, with its emphasis on human rights and culture, but always reminds others that it was the very same Western world that contributed to the destabilisation of certain regions such as the Middle East. Such harsh realities would trigger justifiable fury in most artists. Moudarres, however, refused to become bitter and never lost hope for the future of his people. The present work, a large painting that is typical of Moudarres' style, beautifully fuses all elements of his favoured iconography while they hint at the history and social battles of the Levant.