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Lot Essay
Painted in 1973, Fenêtre (Window) was exhibited at the XII Bienal de São Paulo that same year, marking a pivotal moment in Aref El Rayess’s growing international recognition. Created during a period in which the artist increasingly employed architectural motifs as metaphors for perception, memory and spiritual transcendence, the work exemplifies his distinctive synthesis of geometric abstraction and the human figure. Three figures occupy the foreground, each contained within a distinct pictorial frame defined by bold geometric forms. Reduced to simplified silhouettes outlined in dark contour lines and largely devoid of facial features, the figures transcend portraiture to become symbolic presences. Each conveys a distinct sense of movement and presence: one stands with their back turned, seemingly absorbed in quiet reflection; another leans forward with their head resting on one hand and one knee thrust outward, suggesting tension; the third, an elderly woman supported by a walking stick, strides forward. Together, the figures articulate a spectrum of states of being, suspended between stillness and movement, contemplation and action. El Rayess utilises the architectural motif of windows to suggest both an opening onto the external world and an inward journey of contemplation. The work offers a threshold through which the visible, the interior and metaphysical converge, embodying the universal concerns that define his practice.
Born in Aley, Lebanon, in 1928, El Rayess is regarded as a pioneering figure of Lebanese modernism. Raised between Lebanon and Senegal, his multicultural upbringing exposed him to a rich diversity of cultures and visual traditions that would serve his artistic practice. Spanning more than five decades, his oeuvre encompasses painting, sculpture, printmaking and illustration, distinguished by its synthesis of folkloric imagery, mystical symbolism and modernist abstraction. Deeply informed by his extensive travels across the Arab world, Africa, Europe and North America, as well as by the Druze doctrine and its esoteric notions of mysticism, El Rayess developed a highly personal visual language centred on the interconnectedness of humanity, nature and the cosmos. Although largely self-taught, El Rayess refined his practice in Paris at the studios of Fernand Léger, André Lhote and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière before continuing his studies in Italy on a scholarship awarded by the Italian government. In Florence he trained under the sculptor Antonio Berti, later moving to Rome where he studied alongside Lionello Venturi and Alberto Giacometti. Beyond his artistic practice, El Rayess played a formative role in Lebanon's cultural development as a founding member of both the Fine Arts Department at the Lebanese University and Dar El Fan (The House of Art and Culture), institutions that helped shape the country's post-war artistic landscape. Throughout his career, El Rayess maintained a profound engagement with the political and social upheavals of the twentieth century. The Arab defeat of 1967, the Algerian War of Independence, and the Lebanese Civil War profoundly shaped his artistic vision, giving rise to a powerful body of dystopian, surrealist works that examine the fragility of the human condition.
El Rayess was the subject of a retrospective at Sharjah Art Museum in 2022, followed by a major presentation at the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) in 2023. His works were subsequently featured in the 60th Venice Biennale, underscoring his enduring relevance within the global history of modernism. Today, his works are held in significant public and private collections, including the Sursock Museum, Beirut; the Musée Public National des Beaux-Arts, Algiers; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah and Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF), Beirut.
Born in Aley, Lebanon, in 1928, El Rayess is regarded as a pioneering figure of Lebanese modernism. Raised between Lebanon and Senegal, his multicultural upbringing exposed him to a rich diversity of cultures and visual traditions that would serve his artistic practice. Spanning more than five decades, his oeuvre encompasses painting, sculpture, printmaking and illustration, distinguished by its synthesis of folkloric imagery, mystical symbolism and modernist abstraction. Deeply informed by his extensive travels across the Arab world, Africa, Europe and North America, as well as by the Druze doctrine and its esoteric notions of mysticism, El Rayess developed a highly personal visual language centred on the interconnectedness of humanity, nature and the cosmos. Although largely self-taught, El Rayess refined his practice in Paris at the studios of Fernand Léger, André Lhote and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière before continuing his studies in Italy on a scholarship awarded by the Italian government. In Florence he trained under the sculptor Antonio Berti, later moving to Rome where he studied alongside Lionello Venturi and Alberto Giacometti. Beyond his artistic practice, El Rayess played a formative role in Lebanon's cultural development as a founding member of both the Fine Arts Department at the Lebanese University and Dar El Fan (The House of Art and Culture), institutions that helped shape the country's post-war artistic landscape. Throughout his career, El Rayess maintained a profound engagement with the political and social upheavals of the twentieth century. The Arab defeat of 1967, the Algerian War of Independence, and the Lebanese Civil War profoundly shaped his artistic vision, giving rise to a powerful body of dystopian, surrealist works that examine the fragility of the human condition.
El Rayess was the subject of a retrospective at Sharjah Art Museum in 2022, followed by a major presentation at the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) in 2023. His works were subsequently featured in the 60th Venice Biennale, underscoring his enduring relevance within the global history of modernism. Today, his works are held in significant public and private collections, including the Sursock Museum, Beirut; the Musée Public National des Beaux-Arts, Algiers; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah and Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation (DAF), Beirut.