Lot 11: * Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993) Passagers (Passengers)

Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993)
Passagers (Passengers) oil on canvas, framedsigned "Paul G." (lower left) and inscribed "Paul Guiragossian" on the verso, executed in 196895 x 70cm (37 3/8 x 27 9/16in).

Provenance:Property from a private collection of Dr Zahi HakimAcquired directly from the ArtistExhibited:Beirut, La Galerie L'Amateur, Paul Guiragossian, 1968Literature:Raymond Akl, Paul Guiragossian's exhibition at Galerie L'Amateur, Beirut, 1968Note:This work is sold with a photo certificate from the Paul Guiragossian FoundationTWO IMPORTANT PAINTINGS BY PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN "I am a city dweller. My immediate landscape is mankind, their toil and their existence. I am very sensitive to my surroundings. When they say "Guiragossian repeats himself", it means that my problem with myself and with existence remains unresolved. I see the world, I paint according to my problems and I resolve them by work. I am a human atom, similar to all the other atoms, with the same doubts, the same questions, the same worries."Bonhams are delighted to present two exquisite and significant works by one of the most progressive and talented artists to emerge from the Arab world in the 20th century. Paul Guiragossian achieved worldwide recognition in his own lifetime and was honoured by a state funeral upon his death; reasserting his pivotal position in the history of Arab Modernism as well as among his generational peers. Guiragossian was born on Christmas day of 1926 in Jerusalem to survivors of the Armenian genocide. Due to exile, his family settled in Beirut, Lebanon in 1947. In 1956, Guiragossian received a scholarship from the Italian Government to study at The Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, which was soon followed by a further scholarship from the French government to attend Les Ateliers des Maîtres de L'Ecole de Paris. By the mid-1960s, Paul Guiragossian had grown to become one of the most celebrated artists from Lebanon and in 1989 he became the first artist to have a solo show at the Institut de Monde Arabe in Paris. Guiragossian's genius lies in his ability to simultaneously provoke both joy and despair. Despite the war and unrest breaking out in Lebanon in the early 1970s, his attachment and love for his homeland grew stronger and his works became more colourful with sentimental messages of hope for his people. From the late 1960s onwards, most of Guiragossian's paintings conveyed a sense of solidarity, a collective joy or at times suffering."Passagers" comes to the market from a distinguished Lebanese private collection and was presented directly from the artist to the present owner in Beirut. The work was executed and originally exhibited at La Galerie L'Amateur in Al Hamra in 1968, the same year the Israeli-Lebanese conflict began. In the present work, the artist depicts a family in exile; a couple embracing a new born baby in thick elongated impasto paint next to a calm, gentle and endearing horse. Here the horse symbolises the maternal archetype by shedding light on the integral role this sacred animal plays in Middle Eastern history and culture. The horse is seen as the universal symbol of freedom with its power of flight without wings; carrying its passengers through hardship and transporting them to safety. The warm earthy brown and green colour palette beautifully oscillates the painting between figuration and abstraction. In 1968, Guiragossian began to slowly move away from figuration towards abstraction and by 1970 he completely withdrew from figuration and structured forms. It was also in the late 1960s that the artist began to tackle the subject matters of displacement, refuge and migration.