Georges Hanna Sabbagh (Égypte, 1887 - 1957) Egyptienne
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Literature : Born in 1887 in Alexandria, Georges Sabbagh grew up in Cairo. He arrived in Paris in 1906 to study law, which he quickly abandoned to devote himself to painting and joined the Académie Ranson in 1910, where he was a pupil of Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier. He discovered Perros-Guirec in 1916 after his marriage to Agnès Humbert and stayed in this region until 1936. This Egyptian painter discovered avant-garde painting with his friends Yves Alix, Conrad Kickert, Henri de Waroquier, Jules- Emile Zingg. He assimilated the experience of the Nabis, the Fauves and the Cubists in his studio at La Clarté in Ploumanac'h. His two main themes are his family and Brittany and then Egypt where he settled from 1936. Sabbagh paints portraits where psychology takes precedence over physical reality, his Cubist portraits in dark hues and his sculptural bathers with opulent forms are characteristic of his art. Going from particular to general to express the essential, looking at nature and painting “states of mind” landscapes, seeking the spirit behind the subject, these were the preoccupations of the artists of this generation between the two world wars who were little forgotten and rediscovered for some time. 1927 appears to be a highlight with the Allegory of the Bath. Sabbagh then began missions in Egypt on behalf of the Secretary of State for Fine Arts. His return to his roots had consequences on his work. He began to paint portraits where psychology goes beyond physical reality, moving away from the Cubist, Fauve and Nabis artistic currents that he had previously experienced, to lead him towards a more personal style.
Notes : The lot is currently in France. French VAT at 20% will be applied to lots currently located in France (i.e. buyer’s premium is 22% pre-tax). In the event of export from France to a country outside the EU, VAT on sales costs (i.e. 4.4%) may be refunded after presentation of the Customs exportation receipts. Ces jeunes gens faisaient feu de tout bois pour écrire un chapitre libanais de l'histoire de l'art… Ils affrontaient cette urgence, convaincus qu'il existait une idée à laquelle on pouvait donner corps en rassemblant des éléments en apparence disparates, mais reliés par juxtaposition, art arabe, art musulman, art byzantin, vieil héritage des arts décoratifs en ce qu'ils présentaient une expression populaire de la tradition artisanale dont la puissance était évidente. La notion d'un art oriental était, au demeurant, vue par eux du côté européen, dans le droit fil de la lecture française de la peinture chinoise et japonaise. C'était cette différence qu'il fallait tenter de faire assumer à l'art local, afin qu'il apporte au peintre le sens nécessaire de sa propre différence par rapport à un art occidental dont il avait le sentiment d'être tyranniquement issu, et dans lequel il puisait alors, tout aussi tyranniquement, le souvenir de ses formes, sans parvenir à se libérer de leur emprise. These young people were firing on all cylinders to write a Lebanese chapter in the history of art… They faced this urgency, convinced that there was an idea that could be given substance by bringing together seemingly disparate elements, but linked by juxtaposition, Arab art, Muslim art, Byzantine art, and the deep heritage of the decorative arts, and thus presented a popular expression of the craft’s powerful tradition. Moreover, the notion of Oriental art was seen by them from a European perspective, in line with the French interpretation of Chinese and Japanese painting. It was this difference that they had to try to make local art recognize and internalise, in order to imbue painters with the sense of difference from the Occidental art from which they were tyrannically born, and from which they then tyrannically recall their forms, while still never freeing themselves from its hold.
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