Une Soiree au Palace (1980) by Shafic AbboudContemporary Art Platform (CAP) Kuwait
Shafic Abboud was a Lebanese painter, born in Mhaidseh. He studied at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA and left for Paris in 1947. Although he spent most of his life in France, he is considered one of the most influential Lebanese artists of the 20th century.
When Abboud arrived in Paris, he was immersed in the modernist and abstract tendencies of painting prevailing in the mid 20th century. He worked in the ateliers of Jean Metzinger, Othon Friesz, Fernand Léger, and André Lhote.
These encounters, as well as his personal appreciation of Pierre Bonnard, Roger Bissière, and Nicolas de Staël led him to move from a Lebanese tradition of figurative and landscape painting to a colorful personal abstraction
Une Soirée au Palace was painted in 1980, around the middle of Abboud's career. By this time, he had fully embraced abstract painting and a lighter palette of pastel blues, greys, and greens.
At first, the swirls of paint appear almost random. But taking some time, a pattern emerges. Large patches of paint around the edges suggest an open space, in which a flurry of activity is occurring.
His brush is never still. Stippled dots and thin streaks meet zigzags and wide swathes. Even here, he balances colors, offsetting vivid oranges with gentle blues, and avoids particularly aggressive tones such as red or black.
The image evokes the light and lively mood of a summer evening party at a grand house; fashionable couture, hors d'oeuvres, and dancing.
Although the painting tends to abstraction, is this a person in a dotted dress, gesturing to the crowd?
Abboud's native Lebanon had been ruled by France until 1944. Its seaside capital Beirut, was regarded as the Riviera of the Middle East. Born to a wealthy family, he would have attended events like this
By 1980, Abboud had spent nearly three decades in France, while Lebanon had seen five years of civil war - a war which would only end in 1990. Lebanon had lost its reputation as a high-class resort of rich Europeans.
This painting demonstrates Abboud's sophistication, both as a young man in Lebanon and as an artist later in life. He can recall with nostalgia the peaceful years of Beruit, and he can do so with fashionable abstract expressionist painting.
Thanks for joining this tour of Shafic Abboud's Une Soirée au Palace. If you'd like to see this work, it's held at Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait, there you can learn more about modern and contemporary artists working across the middle east.
