Halim Jurdak

Lebanese Arabic Modernist Abstract Etching Color Engraving Arab Art Halim Jurdak

Halim Jurdak, (1927-2020) Color etching and engraving Hand signed 'H. Jurdak' and numbered 3/15 and marked 'E. A.' in pencil on on lower margin. Frame, approx. 23 1/4" x 15 1/2". Plate size, approx. 10" x 8 1/2". This might be an aquatint or it might have hand applied watercolor painting. Halim Jurdak, Lebanese Artist. (1927-2020) Born in 1927 in Ain El Sindianeh, (Shoueir) Matn, North Lebanon, Halim Jurdak began his artistic training at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Art in 1953. He is the first Lebanese artist to work in the medium of etching and engraving on an equal footing with painting and drawing. His work has won many prizes, including the first prize for Engraving at the Annual Exhibition of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris. He has participated in numerous international and regional exhibitions and began teaching at the Institute of Fine Arts of the Lebanese University in Beirut in 1966. This work bears the influence of Stanley William Hayter and the Atelier 17 Jurdak began his artistic training at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Art in 1953 and went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from “Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts” in Paris. He attended the Atelier Brianchon pour la peinture, et Atelier Cami et Bercier pour la gravure. He also frequented l’atelier of Surrealist Henri Bernard Goetz and l’atelier Yves Brayer at the Académie de la grande Chaumière. He also studied at L’Académie Andre Lhote. He travelled extensively, visiting Munich, Stuttgart, Basel, Dornoch, London, Bruges, Rome, Athens, Quebec, Montreal, Los Angles, Chicago, Milwaukee and New York. Made contacts with artists and galleries and showed regularly. He also began making abstract sculpture. Select Solo Exhibitions 1959: Alumni Club of the American University of Beirut. 1961: The hall of Rudolf Steiner House in Stuttgart – Germany. 1962: Gallery Maison des Beaux-Arts Rue des Beaux-Arts, Paris. 1963: «Gallery Triades Rue de la Grande Chaumière, Paris. 1963: «Gallery Michel Harmouche Starko Center, Beirut. 1970: House of Art and Literature (Dar El Fan Wal Adeb), Beirut. 1987: Gallery Janine Rubeiz, Beirut. 1991: The hall of Goethe Institute , Beirut. 2002: Studio – Gallery of the painter George Khayralla, El – Mtayn – Lebanon. 2009: Mar Mikhael, Bikfaya, Lebanon. Represented Lebanon at the following Art Festivals and Exhibitions: 1967: Exhibition of Peintres-Graveurs de l’Ecole de Paris organized by Brigitte Chehadeh, in honor of the late French painter George Cyr who lived in Beirut. The exhibition included works for the following artists: Antoni Clavé, Massimo Campigli, Marcel Fiorini, James Guitet, Aurelien Ortega, Pierre Louis Maurice Courtin, Marino Marini, Arthur Luiz Piza, Kumi Sugai, Johnny Friedlander, Ossip Zadkine and Amedeo Modigliani. 1974: Festival International de la Jeunesse Francophone in the city of Quebec - Canada. 1994: Exhibition of The love encounter of the Arab Plastic Artists in the city of Latakia under the patronage of the syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud El Zuoubi and Madame Najat El Attar Minister of culture. From each Arab Country, one artist was chosen for this encounter. Arabic Biennales and Exhibitions: 1967: Arab Art Exhibition organized by the British company for tobacco Eight paintings were chosen for eight artists belonging to each of the following arab countries: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Irak, Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt. The exhibition took place successively in London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, Manameh, Amman, Kuwait, Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut. Jurdak’s style has evolved greatly over his long career, from academic realism to cubism, from figurative abstraction, to non-figurative abstraction, in which he focused on forms, patterns, colour and composition. His most recent works have centered on the elemental qualities of the human figure. Jurdak has written numerous artistic and literary articles and has written several books on art theory, including The Metamorphosis of Line and Colour in 1975 (dealing with the psychological reasons underlying modern and contemporary fine art movements) and The Eye of Contentment, published in 1995. His work is held in many private and public collections such as the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts” - UNESCO Palace, Beirut; King Khaled collection of Islamic art, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Academie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Beirut; Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris and AUB, Beirut. He is included in Arab Print volume IV, Showcasing a variety of techniques such lithography, etching, engraving and photogravure, included are works by Shafic Abboud, Etel Adnan, Huguette Caland...

Hand signed and numbered Aquatint Etching Susan Hall lives and works in Point Reyes Station, California, a town in the heart of the Point Reyes National Seashore. This pristine wilderness area is dominated by a mosaic of bays and ocean, rolling grass lands and forests. It is inhabited by a diversity of wildlife, including over 450 species of birds, mountains lions, deer, bobcats, foxes, and elk. Ms. Hall who is a native of this area returned after spending twenty years in New York City. In her book, “Painting Point Reyes”, Hall says, “Point Reyes is the center of my painting life. Point Reyes has been my life and when I haven’t lived here, it has been an underground stream that spoke to me in dreams and visions.” While living and painting in New York City, Ms. Hall exhibited her work widely in museums and galleries. Among them are the Whitney Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Art; Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Trabia MacAfee Gallery, Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago; Ovsey Gallery, Los Angeles. In addition, her work has been featured in group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad, including in 2020 Bud Shark's Ink: The California Crew at BMoCA, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art Colorado USA representing the panoply of aesthetics, cultural backgrounds, viewpoints, and talent held within the bounty of art “made in California.” This remarkable grouping of artists, Brad Brown, Enrique Chagoya, Roy De Forest, Amy Ellingson, Susan Hall, Don Ed Hardy, Mildred Howard, Robert Hudson, Hung Liu, Kara Maria, Rex Ray, Alison Saar, Italo Scanga, and William T. Wiley. Women to the Fore, Hudson River Museum Yonkers 2021 A group of women artists working in oil painting and drawing, lithograph prints and photograph, collage and sculpture. Many icons of feminist art history. Judy Chicago, Judy Giera, Marisol, and Shanequa Benitez, Ann McCoy, Anna Walinska, Audrey Flack, Barbara Morgan, Berenice Abbott, Bessie Potter Vonnoh, Georgia O'Keeffe, Hannelore Baron, Harriet, Judy Chicago, Louise Nevelson, Marisol, Mary Frank, Nancy Graves, Susan Hall, Yvonne Thomas...

Etching, aquatint, drypoint & roulette in colors on arches paper. Hand signed lower right by Henry Moore. Hand numbered 38/50 lower left (there were also 15 artist's proofs). Shee...

Hand signed. Artist's proof. Etching and drypoint on ivory colored paper. In excellent condition. Image Dimensions : 48 x 32 cm Reference: I Selection, Plate IV, Propyläen, berlin,...