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Lot Essay
Painter, photographer, storyteller and poet, Fateh Moudarres was known for his surrealist paintings and was considered to be the father of Modern Arab Art. Born in 1922 in a village near Aleppo, Moudarres was introduced to his art teachers: Munib Al Nakshabandy, Ghaleb Salam, and Wahbi Al Hariri from whom he learned the academic basics of drawing and technical skills. In the beginning on the 1940’s, he made his move to Lebanon to continue his higher education in the American University of Beirut where he studied the English language. This was the means by which he was able to succeed in literature and art globally, including modern art trends and being introduced to other Lebanese intellectuals such as Maron Abboud (1886-1962), who led him to free his literary awareness.
For Moudarres, a painting must have a simultaneous translation of his entire knowledge, concerns and interests, and it becomes at once in a strong emotional charge, in which the images, conspicuous visions, and the flow of emotions and knowledge is a problem of a cascade of shapes and colors that reveals a human position often mixed with elements of nature and life. This piece, Untitled that was created in 1976 is a prime example of just that. In this piece, Moudarres delves into all the forms of art history that he had experimented with. He combines figures he is known for, such as the Palmyrians, which are apparent in the left part of the composition, as well as his defining square heads that are a recurring motif in many of his earlier figurative works. In this piece, unlike the others, Moudarres does not completely rid of abstracted figuration; instead we can see fully formed figures, which is very unlike any of his other works. This rare work can be deemed as a transitional piece as this is when Moudarres began shifting towards more abstract figurative works.
For Moudarres, a painting must have a simultaneous translation of his entire knowledge, concerns and interests, and it becomes at once in a strong emotional charge, in which the images, conspicuous visions, and the flow of emotions and knowledge is a problem of a cascade of shapes and colors that reveals a human position often mixed with elements of nature and life. This piece, Untitled that was created in 1976 is a prime example of just that. In this piece, Moudarres delves into all the forms of art history that he had experimented with. He combines figures he is known for, such as the Palmyrians, which are apparent in the left part of the composition, as well as his defining square heads that are a recurring motif in many of his earlier figurative works. In this piece, unlike the others, Moudarres does not completely rid of abstracted figuration; instead we can see fully formed figures, which is very unlike any of his other works. This rare work can be deemed as a transitional piece as this is when Moudarres began shifting towards more abstract figurative works.