Lot 115: Untitled

Jamil Molaeb (Lebanese, b. 1948) Untitled acrylic and charcoal on canvas 120 1/8 x 59in. (305.5 x 150cm.) Painted in 2011

305.5 x 150cm.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner.

Widely recognised for his superlative use of colour and lines, Lebanese modernist Jamil Molaeb is known for his exquisitely crafted works. Molaeb has a diverse practice and has experimented with many different mediums including stones, woodcarvings, printmaking, drawing and painting. Throughout his oeuvre, he always returns to his roots - his paintings are a showcase of the beauty and rich culture of Lebanon. After completing his Master's degree at the prestigious Pratt Institute in New York and pursuing his PhD from the Ohio State University, Molaeb returned to Baissour in Aley during a time when the nation was consumed by civil war, an event that would be a part of the artist's oeuvre for the next four decades. Molaeb's works cover a wide range of themes such as the daily life of peasants, workers and their families from the Lebanese countryside to scenes of weddings, harvests, prayer, martyrdom, freedom as well as landscapes and natural beauty. In the present work, Molaeb depicts an elongated mural-like composition from the Mudon (Cities) series. His abstracted urban scene with miniature architectural blocks and homes is accentuated by minarets and domes, that form an intricate and lacy architectural embroidery. Molaeb employs a thin black line that traces the entire composition like the deep carvings of a cedar tree. The lines are drawn over the warm golden-brown colour of the canvas with hints of yellows and oranges. Deviating from his typical Mudon works, Molaeb includes figures in the lower half on the canvas that gradually blend into the dense and twisted lines of the composition. The world that the artist has created stretches infinitely beyond this intricate composition. In August 2015, after years of meticulous planning, Molaeb opened his own museum in the village of Baissour. The Jamil Molaeb Museum houses works by the Lebanese artist as well as his contemporaries.