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Lot Essay
Painted in 1970, Helen Khal’s Untitled is an outstandingly elegant and delicate piece from the artist’s abstract oeuvre. Vertically aligned rectangular forms with sweeping contrasts and modulations of colour, composition, and scale emphasises the artist’s pursuit of finding an oasis of order in her life. Following an exceptionally meticulous process, Khal imbues life onto the surface by methodically building her forms from numerous layers of thinned oil paint, bringing forth the silken textures of carefully applied subtle brushstrokes. Portraying through her canvas the assessment of depth and balance in the colour fields, she gives the surface an animated feeling of existentialism. In consideration of the references from colour theory, the dominant presence of the gradations of red and hints of yellow, orange, pink, and white in this artwork becomes an emotive signifier of optimism, strength, passion, courage, and confidence. It is likely that Helen Khal chose these shades as the primary palette for this painting because these elements represented the core aspects of existence she yearned to find through her practice.
Born in 1923, Khal pursued a multifaceted career as a painter, art critic, and educator. She initially aspired to become a writer. However her life took a different turn when, at the age of twenty-two, she battled tuberculosis, spending six months bedridden in a sanitorium. During this period, she discovered her passion for drawing and painting, and after recovering from the illness, she joined weekly afternoon classes at the Baum Art School in Allentown. Subsequently, travelling to Lebanon for the first time, Khal embarked on her formal art education. Dedicating herself to the study of painting, she enrolled at the Academie Libanaise Des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) in Beirut from 1946 to 1948 to study under the supervision of celebrated Lebanese painter Cesar Gemayel. Khal founded Lebanon’s first art gallery, Gallery One, while significantly contributing to the evolution of Lebanese art movements by teaching for nearly three decades at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. Her artistic endeavours, commencing in the early 1960s, garnered attention both domestically and internationally. As a revered critic and writer, her notable publications include 'The Woman Artist in Lebanon' (1987). Khal worked between the United States and Lebanon until she permanently moved to Beirut in 1963, where she lived until her death in 2009.
Born in 1923, Khal pursued a multifaceted career as a painter, art critic, and educator. She initially aspired to become a writer. However her life took a different turn when, at the age of twenty-two, she battled tuberculosis, spending six months bedridden in a sanitorium. During this period, she discovered her passion for drawing and painting, and after recovering from the illness, she joined weekly afternoon classes at the Baum Art School in Allentown. Subsequently, travelling to Lebanon for the first time, Khal embarked on her formal art education. Dedicating herself to the study of painting, she enrolled at the Academie Libanaise Des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) in Beirut from 1946 to 1948 to study under the supervision of celebrated Lebanese painter Cesar Gemayel. Khal founded Lebanon’s first art gallery, Gallery One, while significantly contributing to the evolution of Lebanese art movements by teaching for nearly three decades at the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University. Her artistic endeavours, commencing in the early 1960s, garnered attention both domestically and internationally. As a revered critic and writer, her notable publications include 'The Woman Artist in Lebanon' (1987). Khal worked between the United States and Lebanon until she permanently moved to Beirut in 1963, where she lived until her death in 2009.