Poem

These two exceptional sculptures, Poem, carved in wood, and Dual, cast in brass and aluminium, are distinguished not only by their artistic ingenuity but also by their remarkable provenance. They originate from the personal collection of the late Belgian artist Francine Holley (1919–2020), a close friend of Saloua Raouda Choucair. Holley moved to Paris in 1946 and trained under major figures such as André Lhote, Fernand Léger, Jean Dewasne and Edgard Pillet. When Choucair arrived in Paris in 1948, the two artists eventually crossed paths at Dewasne and Pillet’s Atelier d’Art Abstrait in the early 1950s—a pivotal encounter that laid the foundation for a lasting friendship rooted in a shared exploration of abstraction, structure, and form. Their bond, shaped by common influences and mutual respect, deepens the historical and emotional resonance of the present works.

Choucair’s time at the Atelier d’Art Abstrait in the early 1950s proved decisive in the evolution of her sculptural language. Founded by Jean Dewasne and Edgard Pillet, the atelier championed a non-figurative, rational approach to abstraction in post-war Europe, which aligned closely with Choucair’s own sensibilities. Dewasne’s concept of “flat painting”—which rejected illusionism in favour of structure, order and mathematical logic—resonated with Choucair’s deep engagement with Islamic art, which is inherently geometric, planar, and non-representational. This approach validated and strengthened her commitment to abstraction based on logic, order, and repetition—a conceptual framework that harmonised her Arab-Islamic heritage with the Parisian avant-garde. Immersed in this intellectually vibrant setting, Choucair was introduced to systemic approaches to form, modularity, and spatial relationships—all of which would become defining features of her sculptural practice. As one of the few non-Western women artists in the atelier, her presence was both groundbreaking and formative. Choucair's exposure to the atelier's principles allowed her to develop a singular artistic language rooted in both science and spirituality - setting her apart as a pioneering voice in both Arab and global art histories.

Poem and Dual stand as elegant expressions of this synthesis. Poem is composed of finely articulated wooden modules, stacked with rhythmic precision, resembling stanzas of a poem materialised in space. The surface retains the natural grain of the wood, while the carefully interlocked forma create an interplay of light, shadow, and negative space lending the piece a quiet lyricism. In contrast, Dual employs the cool luminosity of brass and aluminium to explore opposition and unity. The metal surfaces gently echo their surroundings, suggesting not only duality but also transformation through interaction. Together, these two works can be understood as three-dimensional extensions of Dewasne’s “flat painting”—sculptures that embrace modular logic while also affirming a deep sense of tactility and spatial awareness. The wood evokes warmth and organic rhythm, while the metal reflects its surroundings with cool clarity, underscoring Choucair’s belief in harmony through contrast.

These sculptures exemplify the key tenets of Choucair’s artistic philosophy: the poetics of form, the use of abstraction to convey philosophical and spiritual ideas, and the interplay of modular systems. Inspired by Islamic geometry, architecture, and Sufi poetry, Choucair conceived sculpture as a dynamic system rather than a fixed object. Her “poems”- a term she often used for modular works, could be rearranged to express different configurations and meanings. Dual, belonging to her series of interforms and duals, emphasises complementarity—where unity is achieved not through uniformity but through balance between opposites. Together, these two works offer a powerful dialogue of material and meaning, rooted in structure yet rich with symbolic resonance.

Born in Beirut in 1916, Saloua Raouda Choucair is now widely recognised as a trailblazer of modern abstraction in the Arab world. After studying at the American University of Beirut, she moved to Paris in 1948, where she exhibited at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and Galerie Colette Allendy—among the first Arab artists to do so. Returning to Lebanon in the mid-1950s, she continued to develop her sculptural practice, working across a wide range of materials including wood, stone, metal, and plexiglass. Though overlooked during much of her lifetime, Choucair’s legacy has been powerfully reasserted in recent years, most notably through her landmark retrospective at Tate Modern in 2013. Her work now resides in major international collections, including Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Sursock Museum, Beirut; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah. In 2024, the artist's daughter Hala Schoucair, president of the Saloua Raouda Choucair Foundation, inaugurated a dedicated space in Ras El Metn, Lebanon, to house Choucair's extensive collection and personal archive. The space attests to Choucair’s visionary legacy where forms—like poems—continue to unfold across time and space.