Shafic Abboud 1955-1965 ArtDubai Modern 2015 Jul RS AGIAL1955 - 1965: The Abboud Momentum Why would Agial Art Gallery choose to present more than twenty paintings, a dozen watercolors and many lithographs by Shafic Abboud, executed in the course of the decade beginning in 1955? One certainly does remain a “young painter” far longer than forever. The years of apprenticeship are indeed long and numerous, yet there comes a point where certain forces (of various natures, variable intensity, different origins; all of which of course remains to be elucidated) come together to turn around the work of art, the entire body of work, Itis precisely these turning points, real or virtual, what this exhibition seeks to render visible. Let us make it clear: Its all about these turning points, these points of swaying, but this process is far from being a sudden revelation or a brutal conversion. It is sought-after change, conscious, well assumed; itis a seizure of awareness: The feeling of having drained out a vein To be more precise, the events in the lfe ofthe artist are obviously significant factors in the evolution of Abboud's body of work: Between 1955 and 1965, Shatic Abboud found on the edges of Parc Montsouris, the district of Paris that he would call home, where he will live and that will inspire many of his works; the period of his decisive and formative journeys (Italy, the Netherlands); when he encounters the crucial friendships (the critic Roger van Ginder- tael, the historian Paul Veyne...); in 1967 he lost his father and in 1962 he became a father himself. His work is showcased inthe fist Paris biennale and then he signs a contract with the Raymonde Cazenave gallery, becoming an artist known and renown. Installation, opening, creation and procreation are all axes around which his life unfolds. Yet, this is also and above all- the moment when the body of work is transformed from within; Abboud had grown out already in the early sixties from the allure of his abstract compositions, spatial, architecturally conceived paintings. But itis not repudiation; these works will remain dear to him indefinitely. We can appreciate the splendor and grace, we can measure and admire the technical mastery and the inventiveness of a colorist No, this is about something else, a discovery: This abstract painting, must be adequately nourished, fe must be instilled into it, imbued with his own life. And from here onwards is born the urgent necessity of confluence. Inpite of myself, start painting from an almost anecdotic feeling. | see a tormented blue... Something rather imagi- nary. On the other hand, | believe that a painting is the result ofa logical development of complexity (drawing, form, ‘material, execution). Yet often both of them are superimposed... Without.. Is it necessary to find that feeling of ‘complexity’ in a panting, perhaps it's there somewhere (Stusio notebook, 1957)The exhibition builds on this moment of transition that can be read in the evolution of the titles with which Shafic Abboud attributed his works: “Composition” is the ttle that dominates the fifties, but at the very end of the decade, ‘one can detect the transformation with tiles such as “The Pigeonniers of Egypt" or “The Ills of Life” This passage of tiles, mere trvaltes of the chronological type, fed information about the body of work, tiles wholly open to externality; that isthe life of an artist, Itis by no means something insignificant, This progressive abandon- ment ofthe “antiitle” (as they speak of the antsnovel, a novel about the novel in crisis) in favor of more authentic titles is doubtless a re-orientation ofthe painting activity itself: We can take cues on this formula from another painter, Jean Hélion, who had, in his own words “invented a figuration of that which | saw, and also of what which | dreamt of, which | desired, and there was even more, all what I remembered.” This quote, borrowed from the monograph on Abboud by Pascale Le Thorel, to which we refer in order to comment further on our current formulation, will allow us to understand the sense ofthis evolution; each painting becomes a story on its own, with allits temporal modalities: The memory and the past; what we have seen, the lived present and at the very end, the desire, the dreamt future. The tile to give a title, is as Duchamp said, not only to add another color, its also and above all, a doubling of the signature through inserting parts of the artist's biography. To sign and to title, here onwards, becomes one and the same thing For a last time, let us make clear: What we are attempting to highlight here is the strength of Abboud, the prolific solution that he has conjured up to respond to the quintessential debate of the decade: abstraction versus figuration In a few words, what we call here the Abboud Momentum, is nothing more than the Abboud solution: The need to integrate in the work the lesson of abstraction, that abstraction has revealed the true essence of painting, namely that ‘on a canvas or on paper, every touch is important, There are many pivotal centers as there are brushstrokes, and everything is happening right there; but the lesson of figuration is no less important: There isa subject, otherwise the canvas and the paper begin to wither away. “All painting has to be somebody and must have a presence...” (Stusio notebook, 1960) © The Estate of Shafc Abboud Translated from the French by Arie Amaya-Akkermans,In Search of Painting The idea that one must always paint something, namely, that every painting has a subject matter, central to the work of Shafic Abboud, is indeed perplexing today. Familiarity with this body of work, particularly the earlier period encom- passed in this presentation -abeit not only, reveals a difficulty: How to locate the actual content of a composition? Content is not a descriptive approach that reveals syntactic elements or what actually is in a painting. Nobody seriously asks the question, ‘what does this painting mean?’ For art critics speak in terms of value, tone, scale, vibration; all terms borrowed from the composition of music, Meaning and content do not have compositional value as they refer to the thingness of the world; not tothe objects, senses and phenomena of art. The shift from the old Aristotelian space to the infinite Copernican space is the decisive moment of the modern project, and this applies to painting too. How to withdraw from the deception of optics and completely fatten surface into material, while Keeping the history of at intact? For Manet, the question wasn't what things are, but where do painting-objects stand? Underneath the three-dimensional room, there is nothing but empty air, the horror of pure space. For Shafic Abboud himself, who writes in 1968, "Do not imagine space - see it’, this newfound space, intuitively discovered, is however nowhere near the purity of abstract expressionism: "Do not have a cult of pure color". Abboud would never turn his brush to the blind spot of Western ar, Keenly aware that painting could, infact, reach a terminal end. He continued searching for painting, asserting that painting is stil possible, as he wrote in a telegram to Roger van Gindertael ‘Subject matter for Abboud can be understood in a two-fold manner: The subject is not simply an element in sight but the subjective element; in order to paint itis necessary o do itin the frst person and not merely as authorless formal work in the pursuit of higher (un)consciousness. The matter is not simply the event or recollection, but the material properties of painting (wood, pigment, canvas, watercolor etc) that invest the work with the history of civilization and technology. The struggle between figuration and abstraction in his work has been thoroughly elucidated by Christine Abboud and one could add either too litle or too much, but suffice it to say that however interested in the subject matter he became, Abboud was only rarely a narrative painter; he remained loyal to composition A.closer look at his work makes a further claiication necessary: The early ‘compositions’ are far from being a single historical period; they resurface again and again in his work, alongside a number of "Unttled’ canvas, throughout his ‘work from the following decades. What we are looking at here is not a process in time but in space; the attempt of the painter to decompress and liberate the purity of space, legacy of abstraction, as we can see in his more mature ‘works, such as "Matin & Montsouris” (1973) or "La Mer” (1986), Are these color fields? Perhaps to a degree, but they are not too distant from the sprit ofthe early compositions: Lived space as opposed to pure space is nota topological coordinate but a human geography. Itis only in those spaces that we exist, at the threshold of the real. ‘Ate Amaya-Akkermans Beirut, 2015Composition, 1957 Composition, 1955 Oil on panel, 60x92 em Tempera on canvas, 54X73 emComposition, 1957 Oi on paper, 22x27 em Composition, 1957 ‘Tempera on paper, 27x36 em Composition, 1957 il on panel, 60x27 cmComposition, 1958 Composition, 1958 il on panel, 92x64 em Oi on paper on panel, 91x72 emComposition, 1958 Composition, 1958 Tempera on paper, 17327 em “Tempera on paper, 18x22 em Composition, 1958 Composition, 1959 ‘Tempera oa paper, 24x33 cm. ‘Mixed media on paper, 36x24 em.Composition, 1959 Composition, 1959-1960 Clon panel, 80x60 em Mixed media on panel, 8259 emc Oil on canvas on Composition, 1961 ‘il on paper, 14x31 em Watercolors, 1961-1962Composition, 1962-1963 lon canvas, 116x88 em Composition, 1964 ‘Tempera on canvas on bord, 2323 em. Composition, 1963, “Tempera on canvas on paper, 2432 em Composition, 1964 ‘Tempera on board, 32450 emAfterword Having the chance to get to Know Shafic Abboud, albeit briefly, was enough to be immersed in his body of work and learn to profoundly appreciate the oeuvre of a master. A presentation of Abboud's work is always an opportunity to celebrate not only the career and prolific legacy of a painter, but to pay tribute to this master, and his language of diversity which was instrumental in laying the foundations for an Arab modernity, leaving an indelible mark in genera- tions of Arab artists. Modem art from the postcolonial world is now receiving increasing attention at a time when contemporary art finds itself at the crossroads of a world in crisis which begets the question ofthe origins. Itis here and now then that we place an emphasis on presenting Lebanese art of the modem period (1880-1980), as a catalyst for this modernity; his time wit a particular focus on the earlier formative of period (1955-1965) of one ofits greatest representatives, Saleh Barakat Befrut, 2015 Lithographs, 1964 ition of 25Le Pigeonniers d'Egypte No. 31964 La Mauvaise Me, 1965 ‘Oil on canvas, 130x194 em, lon canvas, 146x146 em1955 - 1965 : Le Moment Abboud Pourquoila galerie Agial propose-t-elle plus d'une vingtaine de peintures, une dizaine d’aquarelles et autant de lthog- raphies de Shafic Abboud, réalisées au cours de la décennie qui commence en 19557 Certes on reste longtemps un «jaune peintre», certes les années dapprentissage sont longues et nombreuses mais arrive un moment oii des forces (de natures diverses, d'une intensité variable, d’origines différentes; tout cela reste bien sdr & élucider) font pivoter ensemble d'une oeuvre, d'un travail. Ce sont ces points de rotation, réels ou viruels, que cette exposition tente de rendre visibles Entendons-nous: il s‘agit de points de rotation, de basculements, mais ce processus estloin d’tre une subite révéla- tion ou une conversion brutale. C'est une modification recherchée, consciente, assumée; comme une prise de conscience: le sentiment davoir épuisé une veine Précisons, car a |'évidence les événements d'une vie sont facteurs d’évolution de I'ceuvre: entre 1955 et 1965, Shafic ‘Abboud trouve aux abords du Parc Montsouris le quartier de Paris qui sera le sien, oil vivra et dont bien des ceuvres sont inspirées; i fait des voyages formateurs et décisifs (Italie, Hollande); il rencontre des amis fondamentaux (le critique Roger van Gindertael, Ihistorien Paul Veyne...); en 1957 il perd son pére, en 62 il est pére a son tour. I expose a la premiere Biennale de Pars et signe un contrat avec la galerie Raymonde Cazenave, il devient un peintre connu et reconnu. Installation, ouverture, création et procréation sont autant d'axes autour desquels la vie se déploie. Mais, c'est aussi -et surtout- de I'intérieur qu'une ceuvre se transforme; Abboud a épuisé au début des années soixante le charme des compositions abstraites, spatiales, des tableaux-architecture. Ce n'est pas un reniement, ces ‘euvres lui restent chéres, définiivement, On pourra en apprécier la splendeur et la grace, mesurer et admirer la maitrise technique et ingéniosité du colorist Non, c'est autre chose, une découverte: cette peinture abstraite, il faut la nour, i faut y insiler la vie, sa vie, Et de la nait fimpérieuse exigence de confluences. ‘Malgré moi je pars dans une toile a partir d'un sentiment quasi anecdotique. Je vois bleu tourmenté.... quelque chose dimaginaire. Diautre part, je crois qu'une toile est le résultat d'un déroulement logique de «complexes» (dessin - forme - matiére - exécution). Or souvent les deux se superposert... sans... I faut trouver Ie sentiment d'un «complexe» de toile, c'est peut-étre la. (Camet dali - 1967) Ce passage de titres, simples commodités de classement chronologique, information repliée sur|'ceuvre, a des titres ouverts sur une extériorté, celle de la vie de Vartiste, n'est pas anodin. Cet abandon progressif des «anti-titres» (comme on dit 'anti-roman, roman du roman en crise) au profit de titres authentiques tient sans doute une réorienta- tion de la peinture: on peutici reprendre cette formule d'un autre peintre, Jean Hélion, qui s‘était einventé une figura- tion de ce que je voyais, et aussi de ce que je révais, désirais, et oly avait en plus, tout ce dont je me souvenais.» Cette citation empruntée a la monographie de Pascale Le Thorel, & laquelle on se rapportera avec profit pour appro- fondir les quelques remarques que nous formulons ici, permet de comprendre le sens de cette évolution; chaque tableau devient toute une histoire, avec toutes les modalités du temps: la mémoire et le passé; le vu, le présent du vécu et enfin le désir, l'avenir révé. Le tire, donner un titre, nest pas seulement, comme le disait Duchamp, donner une couleur supplémentaire, c'est aussi, et sans doute principalement, un redoublement de la signature par insertion du biographique. Signerltitrer, comme une seule et méme chose désormais. Une demiére fois, entendons-nous: ce que nous essayons de pointer ici c'est la puissance d'Abboud, la féconde solution quil apporte au lancinant débat qui court tout au long de cette décennie: abstraction versus figuration. Voici en quelques mots ce que nous appelons le Moment Abboud, et qui n’est autre chose que sa solution: il faut intégrer € oeuvre la legon de abstraction, ce que 'abstraction a révélé de l'essence de la peinture, a savoir que dans une toile ou sur une feuile tout importe, quil y a autant de centres que de touches, que donc tout se joue sur la toile ou le papier; mais il faut aussi revenir& la legon de la figuration: ily a du sujet, sinon toile et papier sétiolent. «Chaque toile doit étre quelqu’un et avoir une présence... (Camet date 1960) © Shafic Abboud EstateAbout the artist ‘Shafic Abboud was born in Mhaidseh, Lebanon, in 1926 and is considered one of the most influential Arab painters of he 20th century. He belonged tothe first generation of artists educated al the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts and left to continue his training in Paris in 1947, where he worked at the ateliers of avant-garde artists such as Jean Metzinger and Femand Léger, before pursuing his studies at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Developing a colorful abstract styl, he remained connected to his roots in the Levant, which would clearly manifest in hs work across six decades of painting, ceramics, terracotta, ithography and artist's books, Abboud's work has been widely exhibited. His work was included in ‘Saji: A Century of Modem Art, the inaugural exhibition at Doha's Mathaf Museum of Modern Artin 2010. Retrospective exhibitions of his work have been on show at the Insistut du Monde Arabe in Paris in 2011, and at the Beirut Exhibition Center in 2012, Shafic Abboud passed away in Paris in 2004 and a monograph on his ife's work was published in 2014, authored by Pascale Le Thorel, to be presented during Art Dubai Modern,Design by Carol Chehab Printed by Salim Dabbous Printing Co. sar! ‘AdtDubai Modem 2015 Images courtesy of The Estate of Shafc Abboud «