Helen Khal (1923 – 2009) was an American artist and critic of Lebanese descent.

Early life

Helen Khal was born in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

to a

Lebanese American Lebanese Americans () are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon and Latin America. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the American populatio ...

family from

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. She started her painting career at the age of 21; when illness forced house rest, she began to draw. On a visit to Lebanon in 1946 she met and married a young Lebanese poet,

Yusuf al-Khal Yusuf al-Khal (; December 25, 1917 – March 9, 1987) was a Lebanese poet, journalist, and publisher of Syrians, Syrian ethic origins. He is considered the greatest exponent of avant-garde, avantgardist prose poetry (''qaṣīdat al-natr'') ...

(they later divorced), and remained in the country to study art at ALBA from 1946 to 1948. She returned to the United States briefly but in 1973, after moving back to Lebanon, she established Lebanon's first permanent art gallery, ''Gallery One.''

Career

With the encouragement of her colleagues, notably well-known Lebanese artist

Aref Rayess Aref El Rayess (or Aref Rayess) (25 October 1928 – 27 January 2005) was a Lebanese painter and sculptor. Life Born in Beirut, Aref Rayess started his career as a self-taught artist exhibiting for the first time in 1948. He lived in Africa for ...

, Khal pursued her art and she held her first individual exhibition in 1960 in Galerie Alecco Saab in Beirut. Her other one-woman shows took place at Galerie Trois Feuilles d'Or, Beirut (1965); Galerie Manoug, Beirut (1968); at the First National Bank, Allentown, Pennsylvania (1969); in Kaslik, Lebanon (1970); at the Contact Art Gallery, Beirut (1972, 1974 and 1975) and at the Bolivar Gallery in Kingston, Jamaica in 1975. Her work also appeared in the Biennales of Alexandria and São Paulo. She also taught art at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

from 1967 to 1976 and at the

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU; ) is a secular private American university with campuses in Beirut, Byblos, and New York. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New York and is recognized by the Lebane ...

from 1997 to 1980. She inspired many other artists and her "background concerning art is fully enriched by the many wonders of the world of art." Helen Khal was also recognized as an author and critic. "From 1966 to 1974, Helen Khal was Art Critic to two Lebanese periodicals, The Daily Star and Monday Morning. She also wrote a number of publications in the Middle East and the USA and frequently lectured on art." A series of 22 lectures that she gave was collected and published as a book titled ''The Woman Artist in Lebanon.''

Death

Khal died in 2009.

Legacy

Khal's work was included in the 1994 exhibition ''Forces of Change'' at the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

. Her work was included in the 2021 exhibition ''

Women in Abstraction Women in Abstraction. Another History of Abstraction in the 20th Century or ''Elles font l'abstraction. Une autre histoire de l'abstraction au XXe siècle'' was a major exhibition of 20th century abstract art created by women. It was curated by ...

'' at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

. In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition '' Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970'' at the

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

in London. Also in 2023, a book her, ''Helen Khal: Gallery One and Beirut in the 1960s'', was published.

References

External links

Profile of Helen Khal on One Fine Art

Remembering Helen Khal, American University of Beirut

Helen Khal Obituary, The Daily Star, Lebanon

Helen Khal on Christie's
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khal, Helen 20th-century American women writers Lebanese painters Lebanese women painters Academic staff of the American University of Beirut Academic staff of Lebanese American University 1923 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters American women academics 21st-century American women