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Lot Essay
Painted in 2001, Nocturne II is a representative work of Kamal Boullata’s harmonious and rhythmical geometric oeuvre. He has described the manual exercise of creating these canvases as a process that swings from the mechanical to the organic: he begins with a pencil, compass, and ruler to create a mathematical rendering, and once a pattern forms in his work, it becomes a skeleton ready to receive colour as flesh. Across the painted surface, visible brushstrokes in varying tones of blue are set against harsh dividing lines which separate planes of colour. Like a prism, the effect is at once grounded and transcendent, evoking light and weightlessness even in the face of visible structure. Boullata comments: ‘As soon as they dry, colours should feel as fresh as spring water and as clear as glass. Once I begin to sense that I could almost plunge through the painting’s surface as in a pool or a mirror, I realise that the work is finished. Days or weeks later, when I look back with surprise at what was actually accomplished before my eyes, I cannot help but wonder what images that particular surface reflects from my memory.’ (K. Boullata, Palestinian Art 1850-2005, London 2009, p. 334).
The co-existence of symmetry and asymmetry within the same canvas evokes a sense of harmony and balance. Like a window, enclosed within a square, Nocturne II opens up an illusionary, layered, and abstract colourfield. Boullata comments: ‘The linear rhythms of geometric words ultimately began to challenge me with questions of symmetry. Words based on the square totally disappeared, and the square itself became not only the subject of my work but also the vehicle by which I began to explore the illusions of symmetry.’ (K. Boullata, Palestinian Art 1850-2005, London 2009, p. 330). Nocturne II is part of a larger series of three paintings including Nocturne I and Nocturne III, the latter being in the collection of the Dalloul Art Foundation collection.
Born in Jerusalem in 1942 and graduating from the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C. with a Fulbright Senior Scholarships, Boullata established himself as one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation. After his extended residency between the USA and France he moved to Berlin where he was elected in 2012-13, as fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study. His works have been featured in a number of significant exhibitions at leading international museums, such as The British Museum, London; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah and Institut du monde arabe, Paris.
The co-existence of symmetry and asymmetry within the same canvas evokes a sense of harmony and balance. Like a window, enclosed within a square, Nocturne II opens up an illusionary, layered, and abstract colourfield. Boullata comments: ‘The linear rhythms of geometric words ultimately began to challenge me with questions of symmetry. Words based on the square totally disappeared, and the square itself became not only the subject of my work but also the vehicle by which I began to explore the illusions of symmetry.’ (K. Boullata, Palestinian Art 1850-2005, London 2009, p. 330). Nocturne II is part of a larger series of three paintings including Nocturne I and Nocturne III, the latter being in the collection of the Dalloul Art Foundation collection.
Born in Jerusalem in 1942 and graduating from the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C. with a Fulbright Senior Scholarships, Boullata established himself as one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation. After his extended residency between the USA and France he moved to Berlin where he was elected in 2012-13, as fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study. His works have been featured in a number of significant exhibitions at leading international museums, such as The British Museum, London; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah and Institut du monde arabe, Paris.