Smaller piece: 89.5 x 20 x 12 cm.
Larger piece: 116 x 34 x 23 cm.
Museum Edition 1/1 unique piece
Private Collection, Beirut. A Certificate of Authenticity is provided with the work.
Lot 25
Monumental
2004
Estimate:
$15,000 - $20,000
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Location
Beirut, Lebanon
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ABOUT Alfred Basbous
Alfred Basbous was born in 1924 in Rachana, Lebanon. He was a central figure in the development and advancement of Modernism in the Middle East during the latter part of the twentieth century. The sculptor’s first exhibition was at the Alecco Saab gallery, in Beirut in 1958. He was the recipient of a scholarship from the French government in...
— Read more about Alfred Basbous
About this artwork
“He sculpted slender shapes with no sharp angles. Even in his cubic and rectangular structures, the joints are always rounded. Sensitive and demanding, he polished the surfaces in the extreme, making them soft and sensual, allowing the stone to remain rough; the relief was more welcoming than disturbing. The curves come into dialogue with each other, flirt, intersect, defy or protect themselves. Without suffering from any symmetry,the works of Alfred Basbous can nevertheless breathe a balance.”
- Fadi Basbous, Alfred Basbous’s son
Basbous’s works are particularly touching because they exude a deeply ingrained sincerity. Focused on the aesthetic principles of shape, movement, line, material and harmony, his sculptures are marks of genuineness and acceptance of beauty. This aversion towards frivolous and meaningless embellishments echoes his own philosophy of simplicity. Alfred Basbous was born in Rachana in 1924.
His first exhibition in Beirut, at the Alecco Saab gallery in 1958, marked the beginning of his success and introduced him into the world of sculpture. In 1960, he received a scholarship from the French government and became a pupil of the sculptor René Collamarini at «The National Fine Arts School in Paris» (L’ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris). In 1961, his works were included in the International Sculpture Exhibition at the Musée Rodin, in Paris. Throughout his life, Basbous won many awards including the «Prix de l’Orient» in Beirut in 1963 and the prize of Biennale in The Alexandria in 1974.
When he died in 2006, the President of the Lebanese Republic, in order to honour him, awarded him the «Medal of the Lebanese Order of Merit in Gold.»
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