NOW AND TEN

PROPERTY FROM
A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BEIRUT
*7
LOUAY KAYYALI
(SYRIAN, 1934-1978)
Al Shakikatan (The Sisters)
signed and dated in Arabic (lower right);
titled in Arabic (on the reverse)
oil on masonite
37¡ x 29Ωin. (95 x 75cm.)
Painted in 1974
US$100,000-150,000
AED370,000-550,000
PROVENANCE:
Hanifa Jabiri Collection, Aleppo.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.
EXHIBITED:
Aleppo, Aleppo Club, Exhibition for Aleppine Artists, 1974.
LITERATURE:
M. Kashlan, Louay Kayyali, Damascus 1974 (illustrated, unpaged).
T. Al-Sharif, “Louay Kayyali, Modernisation in art…A Human aspect”,
in Al Hayat Al Tashkiliya (in Arabic), issue 57-58,
Damascus 1994 (illustrated, p. 48).
S. Maksoud, Louay Kayyali, Damascus 1999 (illustrated in colour, unpaged).
T. Al Sharif, Louay Kayyali, Modernisation in Art...A Human Aspect
(in Arabic), Damascus 2008 (illustrated in colour, p. 18).
A. Makhzoum, The Modernisation Trends in the Syrian Art (in Arabic),
Damascus 2010 (illustrated in colour, p. 73).
This work will be included in the forthcoming Louay Kayyali Monograph
currently being prepared by Hala Khayat.
‘[Kayyali] seemed to have encapsulated all his force at the height of his
health status, and fnally his use of the Masonite medium took its place as a
great signature, so as we see in the picture of ‘Al Shakikatan’ the red pigment
plays a striking role, and we are confronted with a very anatomical approach
pushed to other dimensions, showing the humane as well as the expressionist
side. We can see this clearly in the positioning of the relaxed hand of the
sister of the right, on the shoulder of the sister of the left. Wrapped in a
very rare tenderness. However, the bottom part of the composition becomes
sculptural with harsh details, balancing in a positive contrast the shy fowers
on her hands...’
(S. Mohammed, quoted in “Critical Study”, S. Maksoud, Louay Kayyali, Damascus 1999, translated from Arabic).
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