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Lot Essay
Louay Kayyali is one of the most acclaimed and important Modernist artists of Syria whose work embodied the socio-political atmosphere right after the independence of this country until the early 1970’s. His short lived and dramatic life spanned a crucial dynamic moment in Syrian history when the country was gaining its independence and rights and evolving in its visual arts. Kayyali is a fine observer of life in finding the essence of beauty and soul within a city manifested by his use of simple and fluid lines within his landscapes and portraits of laborers and street sellers in Damascus and Aleppo.
Maaloula is one of the main subjects in Kayyali’s oeuvre; the present work is painted only two years after the artist graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti and it is one of the finest portrayals of this mountainous Aramaic town. All elements are intricately balanced, orchestrated by his ability in articulating the subtleties of line and perspective of the holy city’s mountain and its sheltering village and soothing skies.
Beautifully depicted in its blue and grey hues, it appears as one of the brightest and fullest compositions Kayyali painted of the holy city’s village, manifested in its chalky white paint applied in patches like the plasters on the walls, making this present work an emblem of Syrian culture within its technique and subject. The dreamy landscape of the mountains enclosing within the intimate village scene is exemplified through a careful interplay of sinuous and linear shapes. Maintaining a sense of depth and perspective, within the cluster of homes and the dense mountainous landscape, the composition culminates within a beautiful focal point of the spire of the church, carefully placed between the two mountains.
The village of Maaloula is located to the northeast of Damascus and built into the rugged mountainside, with a population of just a few hundred. Maaloula, from the Aramaic word ma'la meaning "entrance", is the only place where the western dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken. It is home to two important monasteries, Mar Sarkis and Mar Taqla. The Mar Sarkis monastery was built in the 4th century on the remains of a pagan temple and it bears a plain and simple appearance. It was named after St. Sarkis (St. Sergius), a Roman soldier, executed for his Christian beliefs. The Mar Taqla monastery holds the remains of St. Taqla (Thecla), daughter of one of Seleucid's princes, and pupil of St. Paul. According to legend, in the 1st century AD, soldiers pursued St.Taqla and her father because of her Christian faith. She came upon a mountain and after praying, the mountain split to reveal a gorge like that of Petra, through which she escaped. The town is named after this entrance to the mountain. Naturally there are many variations of this story among the residents of Maaloula, which adds to its historical and spiritual significance.
Maaloula used to welcome many pilgrims of different ethnicities to this holy place in order to receive blessings and make offerings. During the 1960s when this work was painted, the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus, required a mandatory field visits to this place to draw and paint there, a practice that continued until recently. At present and in what seems to be the aftermath of the Syrian crisis, the place is under protection as it was under attack and is not easy to access yet.
Maaloula is one of the main subjects in Kayyali’s oeuvre; the present work is painted only two years after the artist graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti and it is one of the finest portrayals of this mountainous Aramaic town. All elements are intricately balanced, orchestrated by his ability in articulating the subtleties of line and perspective of the holy city’s mountain and its sheltering village and soothing skies.
Beautifully depicted in its blue and grey hues, it appears as one of the brightest and fullest compositions Kayyali painted of the holy city’s village, manifested in its chalky white paint applied in patches like the plasters on the walls, making this present work an emblem of Syrian culture within its technique and subject. The dreamy landscape of the mountains enclosing within the intimate village scene is exemplified through a careful interplay of sinuous and linear shapes. Maintaining a sense of depth and perspective, within the cluster of homes and the dense mountainous landscape, the composition culminates within a beautiful focal point of the spire of the church, carefully placed between the two mountains.
The village of Maaloula is located to the northeast of Damascus and built into the rugged mountainside, with a population of just a few hundred. Maaloula, from the Aramaic word ma'la meaning "entrance", is the only place where the western dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, is still spoken. It is home to two important monasteries, Mar Sarkis and Mar Taqla. The Mar Sarkis monastery was built in the 4th century on the remains of a pagan temple and it bears a plain and simple appearance. It was named after St. Sarkis (St. Sergius), a Roman soldier, executed for his Christian beliefs. The Mar Taqla monastery holds the remains of St. Taqla (Thecla), daughter of one of Seleucid's princes, and pupil of St. Paul. According to legend, in the 1st century AD, soldiers pursued St.Taqla and her father because of her Christian faith. She came upon a mountain and after praying, the mountain split to reveal a gorge like that of Petra, through which she escaped. The town is named after this entrance to the mountain. Naturally there are many variations of this story among the residents of Maaloula, which adds to its historical and spiritual significance.
Maaloula used to welcome many pilgrims of different ethnicities to this holy place in order to receive blessings and make offerings. During the 1960s when this work was painted, the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus, required a mandatory field visits to this place to draw and paint there, a practice that continued until recently. At present and in what seems to be the aftermath of the Syrian crisis, the place is under protection as it was under attack and is not easy to access yet.