Literature
LITERATURE: M. Zirani, Paul Guiragossian, Garni & Erebouni Printing Co. 1987, no. 99 (illustrated in colour, p. 112; titled ‘Terre-Mère (Mother Earth)’ and incorrectly dated 1985). The Paul Guiragossian Foundation, Beirut, has kindly confrmed the authenticity of this work. We would like to thank the Paul Guiragossian Foundation for their assistance in researching this painting. An exquisite and luscious example from Lebanese Modern master Paul Guiragossian’s later works, In the Nature painted between 1986 and 1987 reveals the artist’s unequalled mastery of colour and line. With thick and elongated brushstrokes in various nuances of white coupled with radiant greens, reds, yellows and blues, the composition refects every facet of the human condition with a rich complexity through multiple fgurative references, while simultaneously revealing the artist’s appeal for abstraction. Born in Jerusalem in 1926 to Armenian parents who survived the Genocide, Paul Guiragossian started painting at an early age, painting charming motifs on children’s kites that he often watched from the window. In the early 1940s, the artist attended Studio Yarkon in Jafa to improve his passion for painting and a few years later. It was in Jerusalem that he encountered a young charming girl, who many years later in New Jersey would reconnect with the artist and acquire this resplendent work. As childhood friends, Guiragossian would later claim that during his time in Jerusalem he would use this particular woman as his muse, a testament to their lifetime long friendship. Fleeing the Arab-Isr 3/4 li confict following the Nakba, Guiragossian emigrated alongside his family to Lebanon. With access to new and interesting elements of inspiration to work of of, such as Christian Iconography prevalent in the Byzantine history of Lebanon, in the late 1950s, Guiragossian was granted a scholarship and travelled to Florence and Paris to pursue his studies in painting. He soon discarded the academicism of his peers and fought for abstraction, liberating himself from the confnes of the discernible human fgure. Experiencing exile since a very tender age, his background undoubtedly highly infuenced his body of work as he responded, through art, to the region’s historical context, while engaging with the post modern notions of identity and the Other. The thick impasto applied on the canvas in In the Nature ofers a sculptural and Expressionist quality that allows the fgures to leap out of the canvas, captivating the viewer in its enchanting mood. The robust, seemingly female, fgures stand side by side, an element of playfulness emanating from these liberal strokes, as if to capture a scene of women happily enjoying an afternoon in the sunshine and beautiful feld, at one with nature. Although physical features such as faces and hands are alluded to throughout the composition, the work is utterly abstracted; its emphasis remains on the play between the diferent strokes, between the infnite and vibrant hues of colour and the contrast of representations of nature in the foreground that are juxtaposed against the masses of fgures huddled together. Ofering an intricate sense of depth and dynamism, Guiragossian manages to capture the vivacity of the scene and simultaneously the beauty of nature itself through his delicate layering of thick in paint of vibrant hues that are reminiscent of the tones used by the Fauves a few decades earlier. The colour palette in the present work, reminiscent of the vivacious and deeply saturated colours present in nature, is exceptional, bringing to light Guiragossian’s arduous skill as he meticulously and efectively combines pigments in a way that is balanced, alluding to happiness, optimism and enlightenment; it evokes the sentiment of joy that comes along with a pleasant day out in the fresh air enjoying nature, the warmth and comfort of the sun shining gloriously on the beautiful fowers all around. In the 1980s, the Middle East was in upheaval and Lebanon was witnessing the last years of a ravaging civil war; violent confrontations fared up particularly in Beirut in 1986 following the Lebanese Forces coup. With this in mind it becomes clear, on closer inspection that although Guiragossian’s composition emanates a sentiment of positivity, as these patches and strokes of colour are adjacent but never overlap, they become a metaphor for themes of solitude even in close knit communities as a result of war. The colours that previously seem to radiate an optimistic glow shift to become loud and aggressive; an underlying hint to the sentiments of sufering, misery and depression. Thus his boisterous composition equally disguises a sense of betrayal, despair and anguish, as if to refer to the upheaval and chaos that the artist witnessed during the years of a ravaging civil war. In 1987-1988, this painting along with several other works were, in a series of exhibitions organised by the Tekeyan Cultural Organisation, showcased in New York, Los Angeles and Montreal. When the artist, his son and wife visited the Armenian family from which the young muse belonged after reconnecting in New York, the rekindling of their friendship in turn instigated a deep rooted need to exhibit Guiragossian’s talent and thus they later took some of the works to be displayed at a school owned by the family in New Jersey. In the Nature, thus became intrinsic part of the family collection revered for its representation of a childhood memory flled with hope. With his captivating painting, Guiragossian represents an authentic human reality, fowing amidst the pain shared by his people and their struggle for unity, goodness and love. The fgures interact as they frolic together and extract their strength from one another. The duality that is often explored in Guiragossian’s paintings is here conquered through form and colour and the textural quality of the present composition creates a tangible sense of depth. The result is a visually arresting and impulsive work of art. It is an extraordinary example from Guiragossian’s later series of works, resplendent in its vibrancy. It oscillates between happiness and sadness, expressing hope for a brighter future while alluding to an everlasting sense of melancholy. Undeniably a masterpiece, In the Nature reveals the infnite manifestations of the human condition. The present work illustrated in the exhibition catalogue organised by the Tekeyan Cultural Association in 1987.
