Shafic (or Chafic) Abboud (1926 in Mhaidseh, near

Bikfaya Bikfaya ( ar, بكفيا, also spelled Bickfaya, Beckfayya, or Bekfaya) is a town in the Matn District region of Mount Lebanon. Its stone houses with red-tiled roofs resting amidst pine and oak forests make Bikfaya one of the most sought-after sub ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

– 2004 in Paris, France) was a Lebanese painter. He studied at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA and left to Paris in 1947. Although he spent most of his life in France, he is considered as one of the most influential Lebanese artists of the 20th century.

Life and work

When Shafic Abboud arrived in Paris, he was immersed in the modernist and abstract tendencies of painting prevailing in the mid 20th century. He worked in the ateliers of

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

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and

André Lhote André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art. Early life and education Lhote was born ...

before pursuing his studies at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French '' grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scien ...

. These encounters, as well as his personal appreciation of

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and

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led him to move from a Lebanese tradition of figurative and landscape painting to a colorful personal abstraction. Abboud remained attached to his oriental roots, remembering oral storytelling from his grandmother as well as Byzantine icons in churches that would eventually radiate in his works. Apart from painting, Abboud showed interest in other medias including ceramics, terracotta, carpets and lithography. He illustrated writing by poems such as

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and produce important artist's books. Abboud's work has been widely recognized. He was part of Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art, the inauguration exhibition of

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's Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. In 2011, the Paris-based

Institut du Monde Arabe The ''Institut du Monde Arabe'', French for Arab World Institute, abbreviated ''IMA'', is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and ...

showed a retrospective of his work. Another comprehensive exhibition curated by Claude Lemand, Nadine Begdache and

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took place in May 2012 at the Beirut Exhibition Center.

Auctions

Shafic Abboud's works are highly demanded on the fine art market and have frequently seen their prices rise above US$100,000. His personal record is ''Chambre - La serviette bleue'', 1977, a triptych proposed in 2007 with an estimation of US$120,000–150,000. It realized a price of $265,000. One year later, ''La Cathedrale'' was auctioned with a very high estimation of US$130,000–180,000 and was sold for $134,500. In October 2010, an Untitled painting was proposed for US$60,000–80,000 and was sold for $146,500. In October 2011, ''L'Amour en noir fleuri'' was hammered at US$122,500 and an untitled painting went for GBP67,250, thus doubling its estimation. In April 2013, a painting entitled "Le chemin d'Alep" realized US$387,750 after a $200,000–250,000 estimation.

Awards

* Prix du Musée Sursock, Beirut, 1964 * Prix Victor Choquet, Ministère des finances, France, 1961

Publications

*Shafic Abboud. First Monograph, edited and published by Claude Lemand, Editions CLEA, Paris, 2006. *Shafic Abboud. Catalogue of the Retrospective, edited and published by Claude Lemand, Editions CLEA, Paris, 2011. *Shafic ABBOUD. Monograph, Pascale Le Thorel, Editions Skira, 2014. –

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*Shafic Abboud, Peintures et lithographies, 1957–2002, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, 2013. *Shafic Abboud Retrospective, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon, 2012 *Shafic Abboud Retrospective, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France, 2011 *Peintures dans les collections européennes, 1954–2003, Espace Claude Lemand, Paris, 2010. *Pieces for a Museum (with

Paul Guiragossian Paul Guiragossian (; 1926 – November 20, 1993) was an Armenian Lebanese painter. Biography Born to Armenian parents, who were survivors of the Armenian genocide, Paul Guiragossian experienced the consequences of exile from a very tender age. ...

), Loft 46, Beirut Lebanon, 2010 *Un parcours 1960–2002 : Huiles, Temperas, Lithographies. Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, 2006, *Hommage à Chafic Abboud, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, 2004 *Petits formats : cent six peintures, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, 2003 *Peintures récentes, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, 2002 *Galerie Jeanine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon, 1999 *Peintures récentes, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France, 1998. *Les Robes de Simone, Galerie Claude Lemand, Paris, France, 1997. *Galerie Jeanine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon, 1994 *Gallery Contact, Beirut, Lebanon 1978 * Galerie Brigitte Schehadé, Paris, France, 1977 * M.L. de Boer, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1975 * Centre d'Art, Beirut, Lebanon, 1972 *Galerie Manoug, Beirut, Lebanon, 1970 *Dar El Fan, Beirut, Lebanon, 1969 *Centre d'Art, Beirut, Lebanon, 1965 *Galerie Dorethea Loehr, Frankfurt, Germany, 1964 *Galerie Raymonde Cazenave, Paris, France, 1961 *Galerie Domus, Beirut, Lebanon, 1959 *Galerie de Beaune, Paris, France, 1955 *French Cultural Center, Beirut, Lebanon, 1950

Group exhibitions

* Art from Lebanon, Beirut Exhibition Center, 2012 * Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, 2010

References

External links

Website of Shafic AbboudShafic Abboud Retrospective at Institut du Monde ArabeShafic Abboud at Galerie Janine Rubeiz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abboud, Shafic 1926 births 2004 deaths Male painters 20th-century Lebanese painters