NOW AND TEN

A selection of books in which the present work is illustrated.
Christie’s Dubai is proud to be entrusted with two
very important works by the Syrian artist Louay
Kayyali. Who is internationally acclaimed as Syria’s
fnest modernist painter. He produced an extensive
oeuvre in his short-lived life documenting people
of various social standing. By age twenty-six
Kayyali was already an established and sought
after artist for his series of fowers, still lives, fne
commissioned portraits and his street vendors’
series. After completing his art degree at the
Academy of fne arts of Rome in the early 1960s,
he returned to Damascus during its golden era,
a time of zeal and fervour that followed Syria’s
independence. Brought up in a bourgeois family
from Aleppo, he was welcomed with open arms
by the elite social circles of both major cities,
Damascus and Aleppo. However Kayyali’s real
interest lay somewhere else, his heart and mind
was occupied with the ideologies of freedom
and with the political activists which witnessing
a parallel rebellious movement subjecting the
miseries in the streets of his nation. As a result,
Kayyali sought to uncover and reveal the harsh
socio-economical reality of 1960s Syria which
contrasted with the seeming reality of the country’s
burgeoning cultural art scene.
This season, Christie’s is ofering two very distinct
works from two diferent periods and moods from
the enigmatic artist’s life. These two seminal
works are particularly special as they are two of the
most documented and critically referenced works
from the artist’s oeuvre which were later used as
visual tributes to his life and work posthumously.
The frst of this exception works entitled Al
Shakikatan is undeniably one of the most intriguing
and important compositions from Kayyali’s golden
period. In his turbulent life, Kayyali’s temper
fuctuated from extreme moments of content and
acceptance to dark moments of self-criticism
and sadness. The following work could be listed
as one of his happiest works depicting fgures. It
was of such particular personal importance to the
artist that in 1974, he chose to present it with four
other distinct works; Azef al Oud, Amam Bab Al
Makk’ha, Al Hammel and Al Murdi’a at the major
exhibition of Aleppine artists in Aleppo club.
Usually depicting single fgures in his works,
in Al Shakikatan, Kayyali surprised the art
community with the introduction of a second
fgure in this unusual composition. Shaking the
usual perfect balance of the lone and solitary
fgures he was mostly known to depict, by painting
these two anonymous mysterious sisters, Kayyali
reinvigorated his aesthetic with a subtle change.
In this composition, the sisters dominate the
canvas, their slender bodies covered in modest
yet colourful clothing while their hair is worn in a
simple fashion of those days.
The colour of their garments are contrasting,
yet similar in style, thus creating harmony and
balance between the two characters. His use of
Masonite, which at the time was a new choice of
medium for the artist, ofers a rich texture in its
simplicity that highlights Kayyali’s command of
spatial composition.
The signifcance of this composition lies in the
depiction of the close sisterly bond shared by
the fgures, wrapping each other in a tenderness
embrace. One sister extends her arm around her
sibling in a demonstrative and afectionate gesture
while the other nurses the bouquet of fowers,
like a baby. Kayyali has delicately painted the
elegant features and gestures of the two sisters
to highlight their pleasant personas and presence.
This tantalising composition is reinforced by the
bouquet of daisies, which both lovingly caress.
The daisies are a symbol for the loving, protective
and caring bond the sister’s share - a touching
tribute to a beautiful, yet intimate relationship.
This peculiar composition is demonstrative of an
underlying sense of warmth, which is argued by
many to be a visual metaphor for an illicit relation
between Kayyali and a lover, personifed in the
bodies of two women. In this sense, Al Shakikatan
holds particular importance in the context of
the artist’s body of works and is undeniably a
collector’s piece.
The present work featured in Al Hayat Al Taskhkiliya
(in Arabic), issue 57-58, Damascus 1994, p. 48.
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