01 Painting, Middle East Artists, THE ART OF WAR, Louay Kayyali's From Under the Rubble, with Footnotes #94

Louay Kayali (SYRIAN, 1934-1978)

From Under the Rubble, c. 1974

Oil on masonite

37¼ x 37¼in. (95 x 95cm.)

Private collection

Sold for USD 103,000 in Oct 2007

Active during a time of immense upheaval in the Arab world, Kayyali was one of its most prominent socio-political artists, his paintings externalising the pressing humanitarian and political issues that surrounded him. His powerful depictions of ordinary people are characterized by strong fluid lines that define the figures and the absence of extraneous detail. Although reminiscent of Russian social realist painting, through his humane treatment of his subjects he conferred them with more individuality and pathos.

When The Six-Day War with Israel broke out in June 1967, soon ending with the occupation of Arab territories, he fell into deep depression, and destroyed the thirty works in the exhibition and stopped painting for several years. Kayyali went to live in Aleppo in seclusion and eventually resumed working.

The present painting is unique, in that it is the only one with such strong subject matter to have been executed after Kayyali destroyed all his political paintings following the 1967 war. It deals directly with the suffering caused by the the 1973 conflict. More on this painting

Louay Kayali (1934–1978) was a Syrian modern artist. He was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1934 and studied art in the Accademia di Belle Arti after having studied at the Al-Tajhiz School where his work was first exhibited in 1952. He met Syrian artist Wahbi Al-Hariri there and the two would share a friendship for the rest of Kayali's life. Al-Hariri would become his mentor as he was for artist Fateh Moudarres (Below) that Hariri introduced to Kayali in 1955. Moudarress and Kayali would together represent Syrian modern art at the Venice Biennial Fair. He suffered from depression and died in 1978 from burns incurred from his bed catching fire, reportedly from a cigarette. More on Louay Kayali

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