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Lot Essay
As a single skull emerges against the backdrop of a thickly applied impasto non-descript space, we are confronted with one subject matter: that of death, of the inescapable fate to which we all must succumb. Yellow Sun II (from the Rainbow of Death series) by Tagreed Darghouth raises the perennial concept of the transience of human life. Deeply reminiscent of Vanitas paintings typical of the Dutch School in the 16th and 17th Century, her subject matter fortifies the notion of memento mori "remember you will die." Her complex brushwork of gold, red and amber tones signify slow decay, a metaphor for the ephemeral quality that is life.
Despite this certainty of death that Darghouth refers to, the background of the work, full of yellow circles, references "Yellow Sun" an example of one of the several codenames given by the British Military to their nuclear arsenal around the Second World War as part of what was paradoxically called the "Rainbow Programme." Yellow Sun II thus candidly draws attention to the blatant disconnection between these codenames and their lethal purposes. We find ourselves pondering why these weapons of mass destruction are humanised through the allocation of such beautiful innocuous names; the rainbow and the sun both elements of natural beauty and hope. It is ironic that in the Bible within the framework of Noah and the Ark, the rainbow is the symbol of God's promise of rebirth. The juxtaposition of this rebirth in death is not lost on the artist - "rebirth" thus implies that these nuclear weapons will obliterate "evil" and bring about peace; within the Rainbow of Death series, Darghouth on the other hand, questions the tragic consequences of nuclear war and highlights its victims, the symbol of which can only be epitomised as a skull.
"Yellow Sun" was the first British operation high-yield strategic nuclear weapon within the 'Rainbow' programme - the name referring only to the outer casing. It is pertinent that in the present lot Darghouth has shed the human 'outer casing" of her subject and has revealed what lies beneath. Yellow Sun II, under its multiple guises, reminds us more than ever of the threat of nuclear proliferation, but in doing so, more poignantly prompts us to accept the fate of our ultimate demise.
CAPTION: Still Life with a Skull (oil on canvas) by Letellier (fl.1668-94) Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dunkirk, France Giraudon The Bridgeman Art Library
Despite this certainty of death that Darghouth refers to, the background of the work, full of yellow circles, references "Yellow Sun" an example of one of the several codenames given by the British Military to their nuclear arsenal around the Second World War as part of what was paradoxically called the "Rainbow Programme." Yellow Sun II thus candidly draws attention to the blatant disconnection between these codenames and their lethal purposes. We find ourselves pondering why these weapons of mass destruction are humanised through the allocation of such beautiful innocuous names; the rainbow and the sun both elements of natural beauty and hope. It is ironic that in the Bible within the framework of Noah and the Ark, the rainbow is the symbol of God's promise of rebirth. The juxtaposition of this rebirth in death is not lost on the artist - "rebirth" thus implies that these nuclear weapons will obliterate "evil" and bring about peace; within the Rainbow of Death series, Darghouth on the other hand, questions the tragic consequences of nuclear war and highlights its victims, the symbol of which can only be epitomised as a skull.
"Yellow Sun" was the first British operation high-yield strategic nuclear weapon within the 'Rainbow' programme - the name referring only to the outer casing. It is pertinent that in the present lot Darghouth has shed the human 'outer casing" of her subject and has revealed what lies beneath. Yellow Sun II, under its multiple guises, reminds us more than ever of the threat of nuclear proliferation, but in doing so, more poignantly prompts us to accept the fate of our ultimate demise.
CAPTION: Still Life with a Skull (oil on canvas) by Letellier (fl.1668-94) Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dunkirk, France Giraudon The Bridgeman Art Library