Lebanon (painting)
Encyclopedia
Lebanon is a mural size painting by Nabil Kanso
depicting the Lebanese Civil War
in a scene invoking the spirit and character of the people in the midst of horror and violence gripping the country. Amid the scene of chaos and devastation, two central figures reach across toward each other symbolically to represent the appeal for unity in defiance of the forces of division, destruction, and terror.
To the right side of the canvas stands a woman with her arms outstretched upward against an ascending perspective of a scene of devastation and destruction with scorched buildings and the gushing of human and animal suffering. They are presented as metaphors for the destruction besetting Lebanon
and its capital city Beirut
. The right foreground is occupied by two lamenting women with hands over their heads and one covering the eyes of a child.
The left section of the painting draws focus on the figure of what appears like a Druze
sheikh
steering out from the picture plane with a desperate calling. He is flanked on his left by a roaring horse and in front of him lays a fallen maiden wrapped with the flag of Lebanon behind protruding dark fists shaped like crawling tentacles. Above him, a wingspan bird covering a half-hid sun hovers over the contour of trees projecting flames that encircle infants floating around the arc of wide arms flung by a pleading figure underneath.
which broke out in 1975 and raged for 15 years with unabated violence killing more than 100,000 with many more injured and destitute, Kanso had made several trips to his native war-torn land. Throughout the period of the conflict, he executed a wide range of major paintings on the Lebanon war
whose portrayal and theme evolved to universal expressions on human brutality and suffering. The paintings constitute a major part of The Split of Life
interrelated series comprising works dealing with contemporary themes of war realized on large scale format. Among the works in the Split of Life are the series Vietnam (1974), Lebanon (1975–1990), One Minute: Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1978–79), South Africa (1979–80), America 500 Years (1989–91), Living Memory(1992–94).
In subject matter and technique, Lebanon 1983 painting reflects Kanso's expressionist
figural style in the use of broad brush strokes with intense colors and symbols conveying his socio political ideas. The character and composition of the painting reflect Kanso's elaborate rendering of large groups of figures as part of a continuum of victims of violence painted on large scale canvases depicting grim scenes with aggressive and apocalyptic imagery aimed at engaging the viewer and bringing attention to the horror and devastation of war. The work makes reference to a number of 19th and 20th paintings rooted in expressionist
, romantic
, and symbolist
works such as those Goya, Géricault, Delacroix
, Munch
, Picasso, and Orozco
.
Nabil Kanso
Nabil Kanso is a Lebanese-American painter born in Beirut, Lebanon.His works deal with contemporary, historical and literary themes, and are marked by figurative imagery executed with spontaneous and vigorous handling of the paint and often done on large-scale formats...
depicting the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
in a scene invoking the spirit and character of the people in the midst of horror and violence gripping the country. Amid the scene of chaos and devastation, two central figures reach across toward each other symbolically to represent the appeal for unity in defiance of the forces of division, destruction, and terror.
Description
Painted in oil on linen and completed in 1983, the painting Lebanon measures 28 feet (8.5 meters) long by 10 feet (3meters) tall. Its composition delineates three sections. At the center, two leaping female figures reach toward each other, almost touching. They are within grasp of a tiny pearl of white green light at the center of the canvas. In the foreground plane forming the base of the two converging figures, an appealing mother carrying a child appears bursting out from a torched pyramidal structure serving to balance and heighten the overall impact of the central scene.To the right side of the canvas stands a woman with her arms outstretched upward against an ascending perspective of a scene of devastation and destruction with scorched buildings and the gushing of human and animal suffering. They are presented as metaphors for the destruction besetting Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and its capital city Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
. The right foreground is occupied by two lamenting women with hands over their heads and one covering the eyes of a child.
The left section of the painting draws focus on the figure of what appears like a Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
steering out from the picture plane with a desperate calling. He is flanked on his left by a roaring horse and in front of him lays a fallen maiden wrapped with the flag of Lebanon behind protruding dark fists shaped like crawling tentacles. Above him, a wingspan bird covering a half-hid sun hovers over the contour of trees projecting flames that encircle infants floating around the arc of wide arms flung by a pleading figure underneath.
Background
During the Lebanese Civil WarLebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
which broke out in 1975 and raged for 15 years with unabated violence killing more than 100,000 with many more injured and destitute, Kanso had made several trips to his native war-torn land. Throughout the period of the conflict, he executed a wide range of major paintings on the Lebanon war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
whose portrayal and theme evolved to universal expressions on human brutality and suffering. The paintings constitute a major part of The Split of Life
The Split of Life
The Split of Life is a series of over 80 mural size oil paintings by Nabil Kanso. The paintings span a period from 1974 to 1994, and deal with contemporary and historical issues of war and violence.-Development and description:...
interrelated series comprising works dealing with contemporary themes of war realized on large scale format. Among the works in the Split of Life are the series Vietnam (1974), Lebanon (1975–1990), One Minute: Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1978–79), South Africa (1979–80), America 500 Years (1989–91), Living Memory(1992–94).
In subject matter and technique, Lebanon 1983 painting reflects Kanso's expressionist
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
figural style in the use of broad brush strokes with intense colors and symbols conveying his socio political ideas. The character and composition of the painting reflect Kanso's elaborate rendering of large groups of figures as part of a continuum of victims of violence painted on large scale canvases depicting grim scenes with aggressive and apocalyptic imagery aimed at engaging the viewer and bringing attention to the horror and devastation of war. The work makes reference to a number of 19th and 20th paintings rooted in expressionist
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, and symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
works such as those Goya, Géricault, Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
, Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
, Picasso, and Orozco
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
.