UNTITLED
signed and dated F. moudarres/Damascus/1980 in English and Arabic on the reverse
oil on canvas
49 x 39cm; 19 1/4 x 15 1/4in
62.5 x 52.5cm; 24 1/2 x 20 3/4in (framed)

Property of a Lady, Berkshire

Provenance
Hadba Nizar Kabbani (acquired from the artist)
Thence by descent to the present owner

"Despite its power, I use red with kindness, and I often soften it with strokes of black or gold to overpower its strength…" – Fateh Moudarres

A seminal figure in Syrian art, Fateh Moudarres is a pioneer of modern painting in his country, integrating elements of Assyrian art with Christian iconography and European modernism. Born in Aleppo, Moudarres studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Rome and later at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (1972) where he was deeply influenced by Christian symbolism as well as Surrealism and abstraction. The presence of totemic figures in compositions such as this one are reminiscent of Assyrian statuary and ancient Sumerian and Islamic art.

Moudarres’ flattened figures, muted palette, and dreamlike abstraction have featured in some of the foremost international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennale, the New York International Art Fair and Contemporary Arab Art Exhibition in Paris. Towards the end of his career, Moudarres moved to Syria where he was a lecturer at the University of Damascus until his death. In 2019, the artist was the subject of the major retrospective Fateh al-Moudarres: Colour, Extensity and Sense held in the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha.