Suad Al Attar - Contemporary Art Day Sale London Friday, October 17, 2008 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Private collection, London

  • Literature

    Suad Al -Attar, Myths and Reflections, London, 2002, n.p. (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    I said ‘Who are you?’
    She answered:
    ‘I am one emaciated by passion
    Worn by sorrow,
    And my heart is destroyed by grief’…
     
    By UMAR IBN RABIA (643 – 719 Mecca)
     
     
    The subject of ‘the couple’ emerged in my work over a decade ago and since that time it has both developed and progressed. Thus I look upon this painting as the culmination of a steady and ongoing evolution in this theme, and also consider it one of my best works from my private collection. In my portrayal of the human, I seek to explore the inner humanity of men and women, both within themselves and also between each other. This relationship is discreet, it is kind and gentle; an invitation to meditate rather than a summons to debate. With this painting I chose to give emphasis to several important elements, such as the technique with which the paint is applied. Here I applied the paint in countless thin layers, later scraping them away and then once more painting films of paint onto the surface. I carry out this method with the aim of finding the ultimate shape and the ultimate colour – the perfect contrast between the light sun-faces against the dark, acknowledging the work of da Vinci, Caravaggio and Rembrandt. With great respect to my mythical past and present and simultaneously in recognition of the contemporary, I tried to express a vision through intensities, where dreams and reality combine together with poetic meaning, a meaning that expresses a private vocabulary. (Suad Al-Attar)
                                                                                                                                        
     
    How many tears we shed the night we parted,
    Excusing our own sorrow by saying ‘It’s only the rain.’
    I see your eyes
    Which seem to float with the pain,
    The stars drawn in a mist of sorrow,
    In the warmth of winter, the chill of autumn,
    Embracing death and birth and darkness and light,
    The shiver of a sob wakens in my soul.
     
    Phillips de Pury & Company would like to thank Suad Al-Attar for compiling the catalogue essay

58

Tears of the Soul

2002
Oil on canvas.
Framed: 70 x 84 cm. (27 1/2 x 33 in).
Signed 'Suad Al Attar' on the reverse, titled ' TEARS OF THE SOUL' on the stretcher.

Estimate
£25,000 - 35,000 

Contemporary Art Day Sale

18 Oct 2008 2pm
London