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Lot Essay
A key figure of Modern Syrian and Arab art abstraction, Mahmoud Hammad belongs to a generation of versatile artists, mastering painting as well as metal engraving and sculpture. Born in 1923, the Damascene painter completed his art studies in Rome, at the Accademia di Belle Arte, where he settled until 1957. Back to his homeland, he founded the Damascus Group alongside pioneers Nasser Chaura (1920-1992) and Elias Zayat (B.1935) while he was also a professor at the Fine Arts Faculty of Damascus University and became dean of the establishment during the 1970s. His impressive oeuvre gathers influences from diverse trends that he cleverly worked on to refine his own style. Besides this, he showed an exceptional enthusiasm for Abstraction that he passionately practiced most of his lifetime.
Renowned for his calligraphy works produced during a large period of time between 1963 and 1988, Mahmoud Hammad got inspiration from the Holy Quran of which he repeatedly reused the verses in several pieces. This enthralling composition entitled Salamon Kawlan Min Rabin Raheem is one of the earliest known works from a series of forty-four paintings on canvas bearing the same title. Realised in 1964, the painting is composed of various layers of vivid colours, but it is the overpowering red which attracts the spectator’s view. The script is written in dark blue tones and the artist chose to depict it vertically which makes the representation intriguing. At this time, he had achieved an aesthetic maturity and truly demonstrated his mastery of Abstract art. Here, the subject does not present a specific style of classical calligraphy, instead it was treated through a modern approach. Arranging the letters with the geometric simplification of forms, the words are lacking of any communicative use and effectively became the subject themselves. He specifically focused on visual aspect without creating a narrative thread. Nevertheless, he brought an intense Spiritism in his painting illustrating this religious statement, ‘Salamon kawlan min Rabin Raheem’, which translates to ‘Peace, a Word from Merciful God’. As the fifty-ninth verse of the Yaseen surah, the verse establishes a peaceful link between the man and the divine. A link manifestly forged by the mere fact of contemplating the composition. In a certain way, he found a perfect harmony which combines cultural and artistic heritage with modern technique. Contrary to other later paintings of his, this creation embodies uniqueness and originality to the extent that the writing remains decipherable and comprehensible. ‘My motivation is a permanent hope to discover a new meaning or an innovative formula. From there you can see the target in front of you, you get a hold of it sometimes but it escapes from you most of the times’ said the painter. This reveals his prolific and artistic career which made him one of the most imminent and influential artists of Modern Arab art.
Renowned for his calligraphy works produced during a large period of time between 1963 and 1988, Mahmoud Hammad got inspiration from the Holy Quran of which he repeatedly reused the verses in several pieces. This enthralling composition entitled Salamon Kawlan Min Rabin Raheem is one of the earliest known works from a series of forty-four paintings on canvas bearing the same title. Realised in 1964, the painting is composed of various layers of vivid colours, but it is the overpowering red which attracts the spectator’s view. The script is written in dark blue tones and the artist chose to depict it vertically which makes the representation intriguing. At this time, he had achieved an aesthetic maturity and truly demonstrated his mastery of Abstract art. Here, the subject does not present a specific style of classical calligraphy, instead it was treated through a modern approach. Arranging the letters with the geometric simplification of forms, the words are lacking of any communicative use and effectively became the subject themselves. He specifically focused on visual aspect without creating a narrative thread. Nevertheless, he brought an intense Spiritism in his painting illustrating this religious statement, ‘Salamon kawlan min Rabin Raheem’, which translates to ‘Peace, a Word from Merciful God’. As the fifty-ninth verse of the Yaseen surah, the verse establishes a peaceful link between the man and the divine. A link manifestly forged by the mere fact of contemplating the composition. In a certain way, he found a perfect harmony which combines cultural and artistic heritage with modern technique. Contrary to other later paintings of his, this creation embodies uniqueness and originality to the extent that the writing remains decipherable and comprehensible. ‘My motivation is a permanent hope to discover a new meaning or an innovative formula. From there you can see the target in front of you, you get a hold of it sometimes but it escapes from you most of the times’ said the painter. This reveals his prolific and artistic career which made him one of the most imminent and influential artists of Modern Arab art.
Renowned for his calligraphy works produced during a large period of time between 1963 and 1988, Mahmoud Hammad got inspiration from the Holy Quran of which he repeatedly reused the verses in several pieces. This enthralling composition entitled Salamon Kawlan Min Rabin Raheem is one of the earliest known works from a series of forty-four paintings on canvas bearing the same title. Realised in 1964, the painting is composed of various layers of vivid colours, but it is the overpowering red which attracts the spectator’s view. The script is written in dark blue tones and the artist chose to depict it vertically which makes the representation intriguing. At this time, he had achieved an aesthetic maturity and truly demonstrated his mastery of Abstract art. Here, the subject does not present a specific style of classical calligraphy, instead it was treated through a modern approach. Arranging the letters with the geometric simplification of forms, the words are lacking of any communicative use and effectively became the subject themselves. He specifically focused on visual aspect without creating a narrative thread. Nevertheless, he brought an intense Spiritism in his painting illustrating this religious statement, ‘Salamon kawlan min Rabin Raheem’, which translates to ‘Peace, a Word from Merciful God’. As the fifty-ninth verse of the Yaseen surah, the verse establishes a peaceful link between the man and the divine. A link manifestly forged by the mere fact of contemplating the composition. In a certain way, he found a perfect harmony which combines cultural and artistic heritage with modern technique. Contrary to other later paintings of his, this creation embodies uniqueness and originality to the extent that the writing remains decipherable and comprehensible. ‘My motivation is a permanent hope to discover a new meaning or an innovative formula. From there you can see the target in front of you, you get a hold of it sometimes but it escapes from you most of the times’ said the painter. This reveals his prolific and artistic career which made him one of the most imminent and influential artists of Modern Arab art.
Renowned for his calligraphy works produced during a large period of time between 1963 and 1988, Mahmoud Hammad got inspiration from the Holy Quran of which he repeatedly reused the verses in several pieces. This enthralling composition entitled Salamon Kawlan Min Rabin Raheem is one of the earliest known works from a series of forty-four paintings on canvas bearing the same title. Realised in 1964, the painting is composed of various layers of vivid colours, but it is the overpowering red which attracts the spectator’s view. The script is written in dark blue tones and the artist chose to depict it vertically which makes the representation intriguing. At this time, he had achieved an aesthetic maturity and truly demonstrated his mastery of Abstract art. Here, the subject does not present a specific style of classical calligraphy, instead it was treated through a modern approach. Arranging the letters with the geometric simplification of forms, the words are lacking of any communicative use and effectively became the subject themselves. He specifically focused on visual aspect without creating a narrative thread. Nevertheless, he brought an intense Spiritism in his painting illustrating this religious statement, ‘Salamon kawlan min Rabin Raheem’, which translates to ‘Peace, a Word from Merciful God’. As the fifty-ninth verse of the Yaseen surah, the verse establishes a peaceful link between the man and the divine. A link manifestly forged by the mere fact of contemplating the composition. In a certain way, he found a perfect harmony which combines cultural and artistic heritage with modern technique. Contrary to other later paintings of his, this creation embodies uniqueness and originality to the extent that the writing remains decipherable and comprehensible. ‘My motivation is a permanent hope to discover a new meaning or an innovative formula. From there you can see the target in front of you, you get a hold of it sometimes but it escapes from you most of the times’ said the painter. This reveals his prolific and artistic career which made him one of the most imminent and influential artists of Modern Arab art.