Lot 17: The Newborn

NAIM ISMAIL (SYRIAN, 1930-1979)
The Newborn
signed and dated in Arabic twice (upper left and lower left)
oil on canvas
32 x 39½in. (81 x 100cm.)
Painted in 1960-1972

The subject of this painting is a child, a toddler in an empty road, dwarfed by his surroundings, and beginning his first steps in life. He is watched over by very strong female figures on the one side which protect him, but haunted by dark animals on the other. These creatures include a dark crow (a sinister perching bird in Middle Eastern folklore) and a horse, which may possibly elude to his wish to escape the harsh reality of life under the colonial rule. But between these two opposing forces, the child remains very much alone.