Khalil Saleeby
Salome, c. 1901
Oil on canvas
73 by 59.5cm
Private collection
Sold for 21,250 USD in November 2017
Salome, also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess. She is known from the New Testament, where she is not named, and from an account by Flavius Josephus. In the New Testament, the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas demands and receives the head of John the Baptist. According to Josephus, she was first married to her uncle Philip the Tetrarch, after whose death (AD 34) she married her cousin Aristobulus of Chalcis, thus becoming queen of Armenia Minor. More on Salome
At first glance, Solomé almost passes for a Vermeer-esque scene of domesticity, only after we come to know the subject of the painting do we realise that the empty dish is entirely devoid of any culinary purpose, prepared instead to receive the severed head of John the Baptist. Diaphanous gossamer sleeves enclose a subtle reference to the fabled ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’, yet there is a tenderness of expression which seems to overhaul the threatening European version of Salome, recasting the daughter of Herodias less as a temptress than as an object of affection. More on this painting
Khalil Saleeby was born in Btalloun, Lebanon in 1870. Captivated by nature and colour from a young age, he continued to nurture this passion through drawings and sketches while receiving a military education in Ottoman Beirut. After completing his studies, Saleeby resolved to develop his artistic sensibilities and moved to Edinburgh in 1890, and then shortly afterwards to Paris. He greatly admired Puvis de Chavannes, and was deeply influenced by his romantic treatment of classical subjects. He was also fascinated by Renoir’s luminous brushwork and his languorous nudes. Saleeby gained considerable notoriety in fin-de-siècle Paris, exhibiting at the Salon des Indépendants and under the aegis of the renowned Impressionist dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel. Saleeby spent a number of years in London before finally returning to his native Lebanon in 1900. It was here that he became a pre-eminent portrait artist and a pioneering figure of Lebanese modernism, counting Omar Onsi, Saliba Douaihy and Cesar Gemayel among his disciples. More on Khalil Saleeby
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