.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Showing a unique Expressionist style, the Syrian artist Marwan Kassab-Bachi is legitimately regarded as a true master of Modern art in the Middle-East. Born in Damascus in 1934, he studied Arabic literature from 1955 to 1957 while simultaneously training himself to paint landscapes scenes and portraits. After completing his studies, he moved to Berlin where he remained until his death a year ago. Taking courses at the Hochschule für Bildende Künst, under the great German artist Hann Trier (1915-1999), author of the monumental ceiling in Charlottenburg Palace, Marwan improved on his technique and consequently built his own artistic identity. Undeniably inspired by the German Post- War era, Marwan concentrated on the creation of captivating portraits, called ‘face landscapes’, at the beginning of the 1970s, an example of which dating from 1976-1977 is offered this season by Christie’s.
This impressive painting reflects Marwan’s unrivalled talent in his unconventional representation of human beings by emphasizing the sitter’s deep and sincere emotions. The man’s face, here seen in a three-quarter view, takes up the entire surface of the canvas and seems to be trapped by the restricted framing. Using colourless earth tones and hues such as grey, green or ochre for the background and a wide array of reds, pinks and orange tones all applied in thick and frantic brushstrokes, the technique and colour complexity increase the intensity of the subject. As a matter of fact, the deep gaze of the man seems to be blurred and directed to a distant and unknown beyond. The curved, twisted and almost violent brushstrokes and outlines highlight this unsettling effect and consequently disturb the viewer’s admiration, recalling the technique used by Russian Expressionist Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943).
Depicting the figure’s psychological introspection, he truly infused life in him and ingeniously created a feeling of empathy for him. Although the scene appears to be dramatic and oppressive, a ray of light brushes through the left of the composition onto the face, bringing a glimmer of hope for the man who might be suffering. The artist both maximises the painterly space and makes the most of the shapes and lines in order to create a completely extraordinary universe.
Through this exceptional piece, Marwan materialised the bridge between the West and the East that he took to perfect his art. Renowned to be part of the Expressionism movement, he forged the path to a sensory experience that the man is rightly living. ‘When we perceive the face, we can say we comprehend everything’ as the Syrian essayist Adonis (b. 1930) wrote in a poem dedicated to Marwan, comparing face with the refection of an inner sanctum.
This impressive painting reflects Marwan’s unrivalled talent in his unconventional representation of human beings by emphasizing the sitter’s deep and sincere emotions. The man’s face, here seen in a three-quarter view, takes up the entire surface of the canvas and seems to be trapped by the restricted framing. Using colourless earth tones and hues such as grey, green or ochre for the background and a wide array of reds, pinks and orange tones all applied in thick and frantic brushstrokes, the technique and colour complexity increase the intensity of the subject. As a matter of fact, the deep gaze of the man seems to be blurred and directed to a distant and unknown beyond. The curved, twisted and almost violent brushstrokes and outlines highlight this unsettling effect and consequently disturb the viewer’s admiration, recalling the technique used by Russian Expressionist Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943).
Depicting the figure’s psychological introspection, he truly infused life in him and ingeniously created a feeling of empathy for him. Although the scene appears to be dramatic and oppressive, a ray of light brushes through the left of the composition onto the face, bringing a glimmer of hope for the man who might be suffering. The artist both maximises the painterly space and makes the most of the shapes and lines in order to create a completely extraordinary universe.
Through this exceptional piece, Marwan materialised the bridge between the West and the East that he took to perfect his art. Renowned to be part of the Expressionism movement, he forged the path to a sensory experience that the man is rightly living. ‘When we perceive the face, we can say we comprehend everything’ as the Syrian essayist Adonis (b. 1930) wrote in a poem dedicated to Marwan, comparing face with the refection of an inner sanctum.