 Mustafa
Farroukh (1901 - 1957)
Biography
and Statement:
A contemporary Lebanese artist born in Beirut in the year 1901,
he studied under Coromaldi and Calcagnodoro.
A graduate of
the Royal College of Fine Arts in Rome on the year 1927. While in
Rome participated in its largest exhibits. (Roma Biennale 1926).
After receiving
the Art Diploma from Italy he proceeded to Paris where he studied
under famous French painters, of whom (Paul CHABAS ) President of
the Society of French Artists, ( Forian, Jules CROWN, Bompard ).
He exhibited in the famous French exhibition hall known as "the
Salon" and was highly valued by leading French Art papers.
Returned to
Beirut in the year 1932 and held several exhibitions of which were
a large one at the American University of Beirut and another at
the school of Arts & Crafts, all were highly appraised and appreciated
for representing true life pictures of this country and its customs.
To spread the
knowledge of Fine Arts in Lebanon he started teaching at the American
University of Beirut, Teachers Training school, and started lecturing
at the "Cenacle Libanais."
The outstanding
Lebanese painter of his generation, Farroukh is noted for his clear
colors and his Historic and National subjects. With a special care
to study the spirit of Nature and the Character of people with the
purpose of recreating the local context. He is in full control of
his Art as a result of his deep understanding of the basic rules
and strength of the painting profession.
In 1940 he exhibited
his paintings in the International Exhibition in New York and his
name was registered in the Benezit International Dictionary of Art
in the year 1950. He is the founder of a unique revolutionary school
of Arts recognized by leaders of the Cultural world locally and
abroad.
He died after
a severe sickness in 1957.
Farroukh received
the first prize of the President of the Republic for the year 1955,
the Lebanese order of Merit, and the order of the Cedar (knight
and Officer).
His total paintings
were more than 2000 sold to collectors inside and outside the Lebanon.
He wrote five
books, (Bilad AL Majd Almafkoud) a study of the Andalusian Art,
an Auto biography in a Form of novel (the story of a person from
Lebanon) and (Art & Life) which is a collection of lectures
and art studies, and (woujouh el Asr) works in Indian ink, and an
autobiography "Tariki Ila Alfan".
International
Exhibitions:
Biennale Rome
1926
Salon de Paris 1930 and 1931
New York International Exhibition 1939
Exhibition at the museum folklore Romano 1977
Barbikan center London 1989
Institut du monde arabe 1990
Centre of contemporary art Barcelona April 2005
Centre of Modern art Valencia September 2005
International
Auctions:
Paris Drouot
1993
London Sotheby's May 2001
London Sotheby's Oct. 2001
Dubai Christies June 2007
Paris Christies June 2009
How
to appreciate Art by Moustafa Farroukh
Most visitors
to art galleries notice that paintings have become a confusing mixture
of many different styles and varying schools of art. The visitor
is bewildered at what he sees and cannot distinguish between a good
painting and a bad one. The Lebanese have not yet become highly
improved in their knowledge of art, and are often unable to recognize
the differences between various styles, schools or artistic movements.
Due to this situation, it has become essential for us to explain
to the public at least how to approach a painting, in order to allow
people to better identify a work of art and view a painting with
greater clarity.
Ever since man
became aware of life around him, and reflected on the charming scenery
of nature and its infinite wonders, he began to record his impressions
on cave walls using rudimentary stone tools. Deep inside, man felt
an urgent need and desire to express his strong feelings for the
various delights and manifestations of life and nature.
Art is an image
of life itself and one of its greatest expressions. With the passing
of time and the continuous efforts of humans, art developed a succession
of rules and principles to be applied when creating any work of
art. Today, this process has attained a high level of sophistication
in all fields of art: architecture, music, literature and painting.
A painting is
one of these artistic manifestations. Most of us look at a painting
in terms of its outer appearance and material value. This is the
wrong approach, but it is not a sin for which the public should
be severely blamed or held responsible. We know that understanding
a work of art is largely a cultural and educational matter based
on special training, which has its particular rules and principles,
and in which a person is brought up to learn about it just like
any other science. Consequently, specialists and artists are required
to perform the duty of elaborating and explaining the various aspects
of a painting to its viewers and elucidate the work's characteristics
as well as its social, national and human aspects. The higher the
level of artistic education, the better can one understand and appreciate
a painting, enjoy all its attributes and the multitude of its meanings
and aims. One can, consequently, accompany the artist through his
enchanting journey to an ideal world, and is momentarily lifted
to a nobler and more humanistic world where his sensations are refined,
his soul purified and his humanism sublimated. With such lofty intellectual
wanderings, social and psychological forces are united and a balance
is maintained between the needs of the body and the demands of the
soul, thus preserving man's own identity as a human being.
A painting,
or rather this simple patch of canvas, is in fact, from the viewpoint
of the mind and intellect, a brief sketch of one's soul, disposition
and temper. It is one of the fleeting phases of life which the artist
momentarily encounters and records with his brush. In some cases,
this may be a picture of the history of a whole nation and, as such,
may become timeless. The philosopher Tame said: "A nation which
has no art has no civilization and no history".
A painter, just
like other masters of the arts, possesses desires and hopes which
he expresses through colour, shadow and light. These are the materials
with which he embodies these desires and hopes. Painting is the
oldest language known to man; even more, it is the common language
of all humanity. People today must know this in order to understand
a painting: this mirror image that represents the artist's own self,
his country and his humanity.
As mentioned
earlier, lines are one of the means which an artist employs to express
his ideas and aspirations. In this respect, one can say that horizontal
lines often express tranquility and peacefulness, while curved and
broken lines express movement and discord. Also, colour, a language
in itself, can play a role that is as important as lines due to
its impact on people's feelings and senses. Cool colours, i.e. yellow,
green and their derivatives, culminating with silver, are soothing,
intimate and invoke comfort and tranquility; this is in contrast
to hot and warm colours, i.e. red, yellow and fiery colours derived
from them, which convey to our senses feelings of pleasure, enthusiasm
and vigour. There is also the critical issue of mixing colours harmoniously,
which demands specialized training, sensitive feelings, a fine taste
for their selection and mixing as well as the subtle ability to
match cool and warm colours to create to the viewer a magnificent
atmosphere of beauty and pleasure. Colours play a critical role
due to their influence on one's soul; a role similar to that played
by music and melodies. For this reason, the fine arts should hold
a significant position in educational systems due to their great
effect on people's morals, refinement and emotional development,
all of which help to raise people to the sublime ideals of love,
goodness and beauty.
We must also
stress that the composition of a painting is one of its most critical,
delicate and difficult aspects. Composition is essential to highlight
ideas, perfect lines, and form them in a way that fits the subject
matter of the painting. This process should observe the spaces among
the various sections of a painting, thus creating harmony, delicate
proportions and total consistency among its various parts to render
it soothing to the soul and pleasant to the eye. Finally, a painting
should maintain a perfect and delicate balance amongst its various
volumes in a way that leads to the creation of a uniform entity
and invokes a microcosm of the whole world in a way that is dominated
by harmony, beauty and discipline.
In respect of
the two words of "harmony" and "discipline",
I would say that the West has given art a significant place and
great importance in society since it is believed that it forms a
strong motive for strengthening the spirit of harmony and discipline
in man. These two qualities place man on the way to greater advancement
and progress, and mould him into a civilized citizen who understands
his duties and rights. A certain philosopher once said, "The
absence of art in a nation is a sign of its decadence". In
short, all these elements should be put together in a painting to
convey the ideas that go through the artist's mind, led by the power
of his imagination and feelings.
Regardless of
the level of intelligence, preparedness and noble origin, an artist
cannot express his feelings and sensations accurately and sincerely
without recognizing all these aspects. Rodin, the famous sculptor,
said: "Without knowing the principles of painting, shadow and
light, and without studying the science of human anatomy, the science
of perspective, and then learning about the nature of colours and
how to mix them, as well as related principles and technical sciences,
the hand of the greatest genius will be paralyzed".
Each artist
has his own preferences and employs the style of expressing himself
through the selection of certain types of lines and colours that
reflect his personal temperament and feelings. Some artists adopt
simple straight lines and mild cool silver colours. Others combine
the two, depending on their state of mind. There are numerous ways
to express feelings: some artists might go to the extreme of strongly
defining lines, features and intensifying colours; others may render
their lines light and radiant; while others still may leave them
infinitely vague. As in literature, art schools are numerous.
The best way
to understand painting is to visit art galleries, read and frequent
artists' studios. These visits create in oneself a precious feeling
of pleasure. Actually, they are like attending the theatre or reading
a good book; they are like a school of ethics that teaches good
manners, the true understanding of the value of things and a subtle
appreciation of life.
The study of
a painting requires ample time, since it is in fact like a great
book with widely differing aspects. In my present observations,
I shall leave these aspects without further elucidation, since only
time will allow one to understand a painting and penetrate its core,
by not only standing before it and saying:"This is a tree and
this is the portrait of a person". Rather, one should try to
understand that the tree represents one of the particular states
of nature, and probably the psychological state of the artist. Also,
the portrait of a person might represent all humanity, its feelings
of pain, joy and other emotions.
People who demand
from life more than food and drink, have to develop and attain a
full understanding of art, so that they may come to understand their
own reality, and, consequently, the real meaning of life.
Biographie
de l'artiste:
- Naissance
1901. Il est le plus jeune d'une famille composé de cinq
enfants.
- Il perd son père à l'âge de quatre ans (1905)
- Son talent se manifeste entre l'âge de cinq & six ans
- Sa première institutrice est l'allemande Gertrude Lind
(1910)
- 1914 - Son école ferme ses portes à cause de la
guerre. Il dessine les notables de Beyrouth et illustre les revues
et journaux.
- 1916 - Il fait la connaissance du grand peintre Habib Srour qui
lui donne des leçons gratuites.
- 1924 - Il voyage à Rome et rentre à l'académie
royale de beaux art de Rome. Ses professeurs son Coromaldi et Calcagnadoro
- 1926 - Il expose à la biennale de Rome, ses peintures sont
mentionnées dans les journaux El Popolo et El messajiero
de la sera
- Il obtient son diplôme en 1927 et retourne à Beyrouth
après un détour à Paris.
- 1929 - Première exposition au West Hall de l'AUB
- 1930 - Retour à Paris, il fréquente les ateliers
de Forain et Paul Chabas. Il expose au salon des artistes Français
et vend deux tableaux à 8000 Francs (équivalent 25000
USD valeur actuelle)
- Eté de 1930 il voyage en Andalousie et exécute plusieurs
aquarelles et pose les premiers notes de son livre" voyage
au pays de la gloire perdue"
- Fin 1931 retour à Beyrouth
- 1932 - Nouvelle exposition au West Hall de l'AUB
- 1935 - Il fonde la section de l'art à l'AUB
- La première classe se composait de 25 filles
-1935 - Farroukh se marie avec Souraya Tamim qui lui donne deux
enfants (Hani 1936 et Hana 1945)
- Farroukh est connu par ses couleurs claires et ses portraits exprimant
la puissance de l'expression et l'intensité du regard, il
est impressionniste dans ses paysages et réaliste dans ses
portraits et sujets historiques.
- Petit de taille, le regard mobile, la lèvre recourbée,
la main souple, il porte un cachet d'alerte jeunesse, de simplicité
savoureuse.
- 1950 - Son nom est enregistré dans le dictionnaire Benezit
- Farroukh a écris 5 livres.
1- Voyage au pays de gloire perdue 1932-1980
2- Histoire d'un homme du Liban 1954
3- L'art et la vie 1967
4- Les visages de L'époque 1988
5- Mon chemin vers L'art 1986
- 1956 - Il obtient le
premier prix du président de la république. Il est
décoré de 3 médailles :
1- Le mérite Libanais
2- Chevalier de l'ordre du cèdre
3- Officier de l'ordre du cèdre
- Il meurt de Leucémie
en Février 1957
International
exhibitions:
-
Biennale Rome 1926
- Salon de Paris 1930 and 1931
- New York International Exhibition 1939
- Exhibition at the museo folklore romano 13/10/1977
- Barbikan center London 1989
- Institut du monde arabe 1990
- Centre of contempory art Barcelona April 2005
- Centre of Modern art Valencia September 2005
-
International Auctions:
- Paris Drouot June 1993
- London Sotheby's May 2001
- London Sotheby's Oct 2001
- Dubai Christies June 2007
- Paris Christies June 2009
Click
Here for Arabic Article
9 dessins à l'encre de chines - Composition 47 x 33 cm
►► Some
of the artist's artwork
►►
Meet
the artist in Art Direct Sale!
►►
Art
Prints available!
Contact: editorial@onefineart.com
|
