Lot 64: PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN (LEBANESE, 1926-1993) Tawkeen (Composition) signed and da

PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN (LEBANESE, 1926-1993) Tawkeen (Composition) signed and dated ‘PAUL.G. 60’ (lower right); signed and dated ‘Paul Guiragossian 60’ (on the reverse) oil on canvas 44 7/8 x 35 5/8 in. (114 x 90.5cm.) Painted in 1960

PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist in the 1970s and thence by descent. LITERATURE: F. El Boukeily, unknown article title, unknown publication, circa 1960 (illustrated, titled ‘Composition’ (in Arabic), unpaged). The Paul Guiragossian Foundation, Beirut, has kindly confrmed the authenticity of this work. Christie’s would like to thank the Paul Guiragossian Foundation for their assistance in researching this painting. The pioneer of Modern art in Lebanon, Paul Guiragossian was born in 1925 in Jerusalem to an Armenian family who survived the genocide, and later moved to Beirut when he was twenty-one years old. Guiragossian’s works from the 1960s, before the artist delved into a more well-known abstract style, are a rare fnd and a seminal work as this one is exceptionally presented at auction. Painted deftly in an artistic vocabulary that draws heavily from the use of solemn and luminous fgures, the present work is a pivotal example from the artist’s earlier compositions that references Guiragossian’s deep rooted appreciation for Christian iconography which he studied intensively and remained an integral part of his legacy. Guiragossian was surrounded with Byzantine-style icons during his youth that inspired him in his work later specifcally in the depiction of mother and child. The references to the central fgure as holy become more prominent when considered in this aspect. In this refned painting, the mother carries her child with afection, portrayed as a central Mary-like fgure, her hands are caressing the newborn as if to embrace him and the two fgures on her side stand as protectors. All eyes seem to be on the child, whose features and attire, in lighter hues of white and blue, hint at his innocence and purity. There is a sense of the sacred within this moment of intimacy and fascination toward the child. In this sense, Guiragossian highlights the sanctity of love in this captured intimate moment and shares his ultimate personal journey combined with his creative vision of the sweetness of life. Although Guiragossian was obsessed with the human fgure, the fgures in this work are devoid of facial features and stand in an exceptional way between the fgurative and the abstract around the baby, the focal point of the composition. The three gracious female fgures and the child become faceless imprints delineated by a wide and skilfully applied brushstroke. The impulsive and powerful layers of colour, alternating between thick and thin, create dynamism that ofer an underlying sense of optimism and give the fgures great expressive power. As the three women are brought close together and the four fgures are intertwined in what resembles a group embrace, the composition ofers a sense of intimacy in the artwork that is refective of Middle Eastern culture as a sense of warmth radiates from the canvas. The earthy colour palette in the present work shows an emphasis on browns, ochres and brick reds applied on the canvas, with hues of blue especially applied to the contours. These dense colours bring to light Guiragossian’s admirable ability in representing the warmth and comfort of one’s home, while evoking the optimism and enlightenment of a newborn child. Using rich deep blue contours, Guiragossian creates a tangible sense of depth manifested in thick brushstrokes that create intricate and dense layers of colour and appears to ofer a window into the inner-workings of the female society that is often reserved behind closed doors. As a notoriously depressed artist, Guiragossian uses this composition to build on the group as a whole that extracts strength from each other, an idealism that he often found comfort in. Often referred to by the critics as the ‘artist of the family’ for his endless representations of the child, girl, mother and family, beneath the many layers of his masterly usage of thick impasto lies a heavy sufering, misery and depression as a result of series of unfortunate events in his life: the artist’s favourite subject and most recurring theme, the mother and child, transcends from his own eternal longing for a mother and a refection of his upbringing and his own loss of an infant child. Within the Lebanese painter’s oeuvre, the fgure of the woman became the symbol of hope, of continuity and of freedom while paying homage to women and more specifcally to the maternal fgure and to motherhood. In this work, Guiragossian renders a sense of hope and faith in a brighter future, flled with love and family that he held as sacred and untouchable. As such, this painting is an endearing example of what to hold dear and is a celebration of love and optimism that is to be approached carefully.