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Lot Essay
“I found Palestine again on canvas. I live my youth, my early days there—all the memories, the birds, the flowers, the butterflies, the greenery, the Dead Sea, the windows, the doors, the skies of Palestine. This is where I found myself.” - Jumana Husseini (A. M. Burnham, Three from Jerusalem, Dhahran 1990).
Painted in 1975, Al Qods (Jerusalem) is an elegant example of Jumana El Husseini’s sustained engagement with her native city and her profound yearning for a lost home, a recurring theme throughout her practice. El Husseini recreates the Jerusalem of her childhood through its fortified walls, historic gates, domes, arches and clustered stone buildings. Rather than offering a literal depiction of the city, she reduces its architecture to simplified geometric forms, arranging them within a tightly constructed composition. A palette of pale blue, white and gold lends the city a luminous, almost ethereal quality, while finely rendered doors, windows and decorative details animate the architectural forms. El Husseini’s distinctive use of material further enhances the physical presence of the architecture: paint is applied with a palette knife or directly from the tube, and at times mixed with sand, creating a sculptural relief that echoes the textured stone surfaces of Jerusalem’s Old City. The application of gold leaf heightens this sense of luminosity, drawing attention to the city’s gates and windows as points of light within the composition. Rising among the clustered buildings, the mosque, slender minarets and church forms evoke Jerusalem’s layered religious architecture, while suggesting the coexistence of its Muslim and Christian communities.
The spaces between the buildings create a profound sense of stillness, heightened by the absence of human figures. This quietude evokes the sense of loss that shaped El Husseini’s relationship with Jerusalem, while the architectural mapping of the city suggests an act of retracing and recollection. The city appears suspended in time, poised between the Jerusalem of her childhood and the city preserved through memory. Rather than simply depicting Jerusalem, the canvas becomes an intimate reconstruction of it through the artist’s memory and imagination, drawing the viewer into the world of longing that underpins her vision of the city. El Husseini produced works such as this primarily for her family, who shared her experience of displacement and the painful rupture from their home city. Al Qods therefore carries an especially intimate significance, offering a rare and deeply personal evocation of Jerusalem.
Al Qods was exhibited at Concrete, Dubai, in On This Land, in 2023, an exhibition focused on the cultural legacy of Palestine. The work originates from the prestigious Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, one of the Gulf’s leading institutions dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Arab art. Its presentation alongside four works by pioneering female artists in Christie’s anniversary auction reflects the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to a gender-balanced and historically inclusive approach to collecting and championing Arab artistic practice.
Born in Jerusalem in 1932, Jumana El Husseini was a Palestinian painter and sculptor whose practice remained deeply connected to the city of her birth. She grew up in a prominent Jerusalem family with roots in the city extending back to at least the 13th century. In 1947, a visit to her sister in Lebanon became permanent following the outbreak of the 1948 War, preventing El Husseini and her family from returning to Jerusalem. The loss of her city became central to her artistic practice, with Jerusalem remaining a recurring subject throughout her career. Following her exile, El Husseini studied political science at Beirut College for Women before transferring to the American University of Beirut, where she graduated in 1956 after pursuing a major in art. In 1982, she moved to Paris, where she later attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
El Husseini exhibited extensively over four decades and participated in a number of group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1979; the Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.; Barbican Centre, London; Institut du monde arabe, Paris and Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
Painted in 1975, Al Qods (Jerusalem) is an elegant example of Jumana El Husseini’s sustained engagement with her native city and her profound yearning for a lost home, a recurring theme throughout her practice. El Husseini recreates the Jerusalem of her childhood through its fortified walls, historic gates, domes, arches and clustered stone buildings. Rather than offering a literal depiction of the city, she reduces its architecture to simplified geometric forms, arranging them within a tightly constructed composition. A palette of pale blue, white and gold lends the city a luminous, almost ethereal quality, while finely rendered doors, windows and decorative details animate the architectural forms. El Husseini’s distinctive use of material further enhances the physical presence of the architecture: paint is applied with a palette knife or directly from the tube, and at times mixed with sand, creating a sculptural relief that echoes the textured stone surfaces of Jerusalem’s Old City. The application of gold leaf heightens this sense of luminosity, drawing attention to the city’s gates and windows as points of light within the composition. Rising among the clustered buildings, the mosque, slender minarets and church forms evoke Jerusalem’s layered religious architecture, while suggesting the coexistence of its Muslim and Christian communities.
The spaces between the buildings create a profound sense of stillness, heightened by the absence of human figures. This quietude evokes the sense of loss that shaped El Husseini’s relationship with Jerusalem, while the architectural mapping of the city suggests an act of retracing and recollection. The city appears suspended in time, poised between the Jerusalem of her childhood and the city preserved through memory. Rather than simply depicting Jerusalem, the canvas becomes an intimate reconstruction of it through the artist’s memory and imagination, drawing the viewer into the world of longing that underpins her vision of the city. El Husseini produced works such as this primarily for her family, who shared her experience of displacement and the painful rupture from their home city. Al Qods therefore carries an especially intimate significance, offering a rare and deeply personal evocation of Jerusalem.
Al Qods was exhibited at Concrete, Dubai, in On This Land, in 2023, an exhibition focused on the cultural legacy of Palestine. The work originates from the prestigious Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, one of the Gulf’s leading institutions dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Arab art. Its presentation alongside four works by pioneering female artists in Christie’s anniversary auction reflects the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to a gender-balanced and historically inclusive approach to collecting and championing Arab artistic practice.
Born in Jerusalem in 1932, Jumana El Husseini was a Palestinian painter and sculptor whose practice remained deeply connected to the city of her birth. She grew up in a prominent Jerusalem family with roots in the city extending back to at least the 13th century. In 1947, a visit to her sister in Lebanon became permanent following the outbreak of the 1948 War, preventing El Husseini and her family from returning to Jerusalem. The loss of her city became central to her artistic practice, with Jerusalem remaining a recurring subject throughout her career. Following her exile, El Husseini studied political science at Beirut College for Women before transferring to the American University of Beirut, where she graduated in 1956 after pursuing a major in art. In 1982, she moved to Paris, where she later attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
El Husseini exhibited extensively over four decades and participated in a number of group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1979; the Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington D.C.; Barbican Centre, London; Institut du monde arabe, Paris and Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.