.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Described as the father of the modern art movement in Syria, the visionary and versatile Fateh Moudarres remains one of the most illustrious personalities of Middle Eastern culture in the 20th century. The Aleppine painter studied fine arts at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Roma from 1954 to 1960 and then, in the early 1970s, travelled to France where he attended courses at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. When he returned to Syria, he started teaching at the University of Damascus and befriended the renowned artist Wahbi Al-Hariri (1914-1994), considered as the ‘last of the classicists’.
Fateh Moudarres’ oeuvre is a beautiful marriage between past and present, tradition and modernity, and creates an extraordinary universe of its own. Although his characters are often unidentified, the two paintings presented in this auction are the portraits of Amal Al-Ghazi (1974), an important figure of Syrian society who owned, together with her brother, depicted in the second portrait, the Al Ghazi Palace built in 1814 on the banks of the Barada River in Damascus. The artist depicts his close friend and patron sitting and looking ahead with deep eyes, outlined by dark kohl. Through his masterful use of red, ochre and blue Moudarres blends the woman and her clothes with the mysterious place in which she is portrayed. A mother in real life, she carries a young child on her chest whose round-arched head – borrowed from Assyrian statuary - is a recurrent motif in the Moudarres’ paintings. He effectively drew inspiration from Ancient artistic traditions of the region, attentively contemplating sculptures of Canaanite or Aramean sarcophagi. In that respect, the discrete perspective seems to transform the canvas into a bas-relief on which the noble character stands straight. The background, constituted of geometric elements, also reveals animal scenes where small abstract felines appear on the right of the woman’s arm.
In addition, the composition reflects Moudarres’ fascination for Christian iconography to the extent that he reused the essence of medieval art establishing a spiritual relationship between the woman and the child. To the right of the woman’s face, a fish – ‘ichthys’ in Greek – features and traditionally symbolises the first sign of belonging to the Christian community during the Roman persecutions during the 3rd century AD. The painting is clearly imbued with symbolism and mysticism, further highlighted by the presence of the blue eyes behind the model which refer to her pendant acting as an amulet which ward of the evil eye. Moudarres’ affection for his sitter is hinted by the golden leaves on the canvas, recalling the traditional decoration of Christian icons, whilst the overall jewel-like red and blue pigments are reminiscent of stained-glass windows in Christian churches. In that way, he sacralised the moment when he portrayed her as a loving and reassuring figure to celebrate the theme of motherhood.
The second work offered with Amal’s portrait depicts her brother Giath Al-Ghazi and is another rare example of the artist’s figurative oeuvre. Painted with a fiery palette of reds and ochres, the sitter also merges with the background and his shifty dark eyes seem in search of something in the dark. With diverted attention, the man is embracing several young children in his arms another reference to Assyrian statuary aesthetics. The use of golden leaves brings luminosity and sacredness to the composition and consequently, the painter yet again manifestly alluded to Medieval art and Christian iconography conferring the character to the status of an honourable father. The man becomes the personification of strength and protection and moreover, the red earthy tones bring warmth to the scene emphasising the idea of shelter, represented by the embrace.
These two exceptional paintings stand out as rare examples of Moudarres’ figurative oeuvre yet he showcases a flawless technical mastery in his way of immortalising the public figure as if he entered them into history as Syrian icons, ‘Chouhoud Alaa Al ‘Asir’ (‘Eye witnesses of the era’).
Fateh Moudarres’ oeuvre is a beautiful marriage between past and present, tradition and modernity, and creates an extraordinary universe of its own. Although his characters are often unidentified, the two paintings presented in this auction are the portraits of Amal Al-Ghazi (1974), an important figure of Syrian society who owned, together with her brother, depicted in the second portrait, the Al Ghazi Palace built in 1814 on the banks of the Barada River in Damascus. The artist depicts his close friend and patron sitting and looking ahead with deep eyes, outlined by dark kohl. Through his masterful use of red, ochre and blue Moudarres blends the woman and her clothes with the mysterious place in which she is portrayed. A mother in real life, she carries a young child on her chest whose round-arched head – borrowed from Assyrian statuary - is a recurrent motif in the Moudarres’ paintings. He effectively drew inspiration from Ancient artistic traditions of the region, attentively contemplating sculptures of Canaanite or Aramean sarcophagi. In that respect, the discrete perspective seems to transform the canvas into a bas-relief on which the noble character stands straight. The background, constituted of geometric elements, also reveals animal scenes where small abstract felines appear on the right of the woman’s arm.
In addition, the composition reflects Moudarres’ fascination for Christian iconography to the extent that he reused the essence of medieval art establishing a spiritual relationship between the woman and the child. To the right of the woman’s face, a fish – ‘ichthys’ in Greek – features and traditionally symbolises the first sign of belonging to the Christian community during the Roman persecutions during the 3rd century AD. The painting is clearly imbued with symbolism and mysticism, further highlighted by the presence of the blue eyes behind the model which refer to her pendant acting as an amulet which ward of the evil eye. Moudarres’ affection for his sitter is hinted by the golden leaves on the canvas, recalling the traditional decoration of Christian icons, whilst the overall jewel-like red and blue pigments are reminiscent of stained-glass windows in Christian churches. In that way, he sacralised the moment when he portrayed her as a loving and reassuring figure to celebrate the theme of motherhood.
The second work offered with Amal’s portrait depicts her brother Giath Al-Ghazi and is another rare example of the artist’s figurative oeuvre. Painted with a fiery palette of reds and ochres, the sitter also merges with the background and his shifty dark eyes seem in search of something in the dark. With diverted attention, the man is embracing several young children in his arms another reference to Assyrian statuary aesthetics. The use of golden leaves brings luminosity and sacredness to the composition and consequently, the painter yet again manifestly alluded to Medieval art and Christian iconography conferring the character to the status of an honourable father. The man becomes the personification of strength and protection and moreover, the red earthy tones bring warmth to the scene emphasising the idea of shelter, represented by the embrace.
These two exceptional paintings stand out as rare examples of Moudarres’ figurative oeuvre yet he showcases a flawless technical mastery in his way of immortalising the public figure as if he entered them into history as Syrian icons, ‘Chouhoud Alaa Al ‘Asir’ (‘Eye witnesses of the era’).