Lot 14: * Cesar Gemayel (Lebanon, 1898-1958) Jeune Fille au Tantour (Portrait of Pierette Gay-Para)

Cesar Gemayel (Lebanon, 1898-1958)
Jeune Fille au Tantour (Portrait of Pierette Gay-Para) oil on canvas, framedsigned "C.Gemayel" (lower left), executed in 194840 x 31cm (15 3/4 x 12 3/16in).

Provenance:Property from a private collection, BeirutNote:Accompanied by a declaration of authenticity by Pierrette Gay-ParaThe present portrait by renowned Lebanese modernist Cesar Gemayel is an elegantly composed depiction of a traditional Lebanese girl wearing the iconic tantour. The most elaborate of all Lebanese headdresses was the tantour, a silver cone worn exclusively by married noblewomen. Its height and composition were in proportion to the wealth of its owner. To hold this unwieldy head-dress in place, holes were pierced in the base of the tantour to attach ribbons for trying around the head. A silk scarf was wound around the base of the tantour and a white veil floated from its peak.César Gemayel is recognized as one of the pioneers of Lebanese modernism. Considered to be a member of the second generation of Lebanese modern painters, Gemayel marks a transition from the commissioned, academic portraits of his predecessors to the portrayal of landscapes, nudes, and still life in oil, watercolor, and pastel and his work is characterized by an experimentation with the light, color, and loose brushstroke associated with the tradition of European Impressionism.Born in the village of 'Ain al-Touffaha, near Bikfaya, Gemayel apprenticed in the atelier of the Lebanese painter Khalil Saleeby (1870 - 1928), travelling to Paris for three years to continue his artistic development at the Academie Julien. During this period, Gemayel developed an admiration for the work of the Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919).In 1930, Gemyel returned to Beirut and dedicated himself to his art. In addition to a prolific body of work on paper, Gemayel made substantial contributions to the development in Lebanon of an infrastructure for the visual arts, most notably as a founding member of the Committee of Friends of the National Museums and Archaeological Sites (est. 1923) and through his teaching at L'Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA, est. 1937), where he served as a founding faculty member and at one time director of the department of Art and Architecture, established in 1943.