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Dalloul Art Foundation
MARWAN KASSAB-BACHI MARWAN KASSAB-BACHI

MARWAN KASSAB-BACHI, Syria (1934 - 2016)

Bio

Commonly known as ‘Marwan’, Marwan Kassab-Bachi was born in Damascus in 1934 to a wealthy, local family. He studied Arabic literature at the University of Damascus from 1955 to 1957, and...

Written by ARTHUR DEBSI

Commonly known as ‘Marwan’, Marwan Kassab-Bachi was born in Damascus in 1934 to a wealthy, local family. He studied Arabic literature at the University of Damascus from 1955 to 1957, and simultaneously trained himself to paint portraits of his surroundings and landscapes. The young student decided to leave for Paris, but because of the difficult political situation in France at that time, he eventually moved to Germany in April 1957. There, he enrolled in the Hochschule der Bildende Künste in Berlin, and completed his training in painting, under the supervision of the German artist Hann Trier (1915-1999). From then on, he spent his life in Germany working as a freelance artist and full-time employee in a fur factory from 1962 to 1970. In parallel to his art practice, Marwan also pursued an active career in the Hochschule der Bildende Künste, and was appointed associate professor in painting between 1977 and 1979, and full professor from 1980 until 2004.

In 1999, the Darat al-Funun Foundation was created in Amman, to provide an art space and residency for artists from the Arab world. Marwan established its Summer Academy. During several summer seasons from its inception to 2003, he supervised workshops that were attended by sixty artists, including several contemporary artists based in Beirut, like the two brothers Saïd (1974-) and Ayman Baalbaki (1975-), Tagreed Darghouth (1979-) and Serwan Baran (1968-). Marwan’s involvement within the Berlin and Arab art scene, as well as higher education, was such that he joined the Akademie der Künste in 1994, becoming the first Arab member of this institution[1].

At the age of 5, Khaddouj, the housekeeper, working for the family, was bathing young Marwan. Accused of looking at her body, she violently slapped him while his face was soap-covered. Since then, she haunted his canvases and he transformed this anecdote and other memories from childhood into visual themes, related to the homeland, sexuality, and sensual feelings.

Marwan’s time in Berlin enabled him to witness several of the country’s important historical events. He saw Germany recover from the destruction of World War II, its division into two blocks in 1961 and then, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He also lived through the development of Berlin, which turned into a key hub for culture and arts in Europe in the 1960s with the opening of theatres, galleries, and opera houses[2].

Marwan would join the German painters Georg Baselitz (1938-) and Eugen Schönebeck (1936-) in the European artistic movement called ‘New Figuration’ which tended to represent the social and political reality from a more narrative perspective, as opposed to the abstraction of the 1950s[3]. Highly inspired by Expressionism, initiated at the beginning of the 20th century, the artist concentrated on the character of the human being in his entire oeuvre. Qualified as humanistic, his early works almost always depicted one or two figures, such as Untitled (1966) or Im Rotten Kleid (In Red Dress) from 1971 both part of the Dalloul Art Foundation, and somehow he remained attached to figuration by keeping the physical features distinct. Nevertheless, he altered the proportions and put particular emphasis on the energy emanating from the body gestures and facial expressions that he rendered with a vivid line drawing. The standing figures – which are mostly unidentifiable – look tormented, nostalgic, and lonely. They question the human condition. In a certain way, they reveal the psychological impact on a generation of people living during a period of instability and anxiety. Embodying the profile of a humanist, Marwan integrated a significant part of subjectivity in his art as if he displaying his own relationship with the world.

During the 1970s, representing the emotional experience of the individual became an obsession for Marwan. The heads and faces were the ultimate subjects that dominated all of his compositions, using different treatments with a wide range of media, and extending various approaches. From 1970 to 1973, he liked to repeat the motif of the veil seen in the artwork Untitled executed in 1972 (also at DAF). Covering the head, the transparent veil reveals the face, the appearance, and the identity of the person but the painter used the element to metaphorically expose the inner self too. He looked for the truth in what was hidden.

In 1973, Marwan was granted a scholarship to reside in the Cité des Arts in Paris for one year during which he discovered French art History and its multiple avant-garde movements. From this experience, he changed his conception of color[4] that he previously had and which is represented in two examples, both called Facial Landscape (part of DAF) respectively dated from 1974 and 1979. Here, he employed warmer colors such as violet, green, or yellow, which reminded him of some memories of Damascus. Yet, he innovated in the technique of application: the paint gives form to the faces and doesn’t fill the spaces between the lines of the drawing. The faces are fragmented because of some blanks that he let appear from the paper. These two pieces belong to the series of works named Gesichtslandschaft or ‘facial landscapes’, from the mid-1970s. From that time, the artist chose to zoom on a specific angle of the face, to capture the human soul and not physical portraits.

Marwan initially modeled the faces after himself and flattened them so they become a sort of landscapes stretching the whole surface of the composition and looking like hills as he did in Untitled (1975). With a quick appliance of earthy tones, he produced enigmatic scenes almost illusionary. Progressively, he presented the heads more abstracted and massive, like Head (1985) applying layers of thicker brush strokes on top of one another with a three-dimensional effect. He exaggerated the proportions of some features by growing the lips, lifting cheekbones, and frowning. The protagonist, whose skin looks mutilated stares at the viewer with deep eyes, thus sharing his sufferings and uncertainties. Marwan believed in the idea of expressing life’s depth through the illustration of faces[5].

Between 1978 and 1983, the painter created another series of portraits of little puppets – he would get back to this theme after twenty-five years. Through these artworks like Marionnette painted in 1983 (also part of DAF’s collection), he blurred the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. Sitting in the middle of the composition, the puppet, ‘al-duma’, is inanimate and seems to be passive. Again, he worked with a palette of warm colors and created a rhythm with interwoven lines that compose the limbs of the toy’s body. He also applied dashes of paint, like stains or dots, which give an impression of a puzzle: a technique similar to the French trend of ‘Tachisme’ from the 1950s consisting in applying spontaneous brushstrokes, drips and blobs of paint straight from the tube. Even if it is intended for children, this object gives rise to numerous interpretations in the collective imagination. It is effectively a pure reproduction of a living being, which is, however, freely manipulated by the user. Marwan highlighted this symbolism and established a correlation with existentialist concepts including the meaning of life, and fate. This is an image that he also allocated to people in the Middle East region, seeing it as a theatrical stage.

Although Marwan spent most of his lifetime in Europe, he had always remained connected to his Syrian origins, as well as the Arab world in general. The notion of identity was a perpetual source of reflection and inspiration for him. He regarded Germany as a country that had recovered from the disasters of war to become a creative and attractive nation; a hope to other countries also going through hard times. He consequently aimed to build bridges between the two cultures and living places he embraced, experimenting with a peculiar style. In the large series of etchings called 99 Heads, from whose 18 editions, one is part of DAF’s collection, he demonstrated his research on the faces while drawing a parallel with the Islamic faith. Companion of Prophet Muhammad (c.570-632), Abu Hurairah (601-676) mentioned in the hadith collection of Sahih al-Bukhari completed in the 9th century: ‘Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one (…)’. Here, the artist, a non-dogmatic Muslim, reinterpreted these ninety-nine names into ninety-nine stages of Man’s life.

Marwan Kassab-Bachi passed away in 2016 in Berlin.

[1] Bank, Charlotte, and Ismail Al Rifa'i. Marwan: Topographies of the Soul. Sharjah, UAE: Barjeel Art Foundation, 2014. [Foreword]

[2] Grésillon, Boris. “La Culture Sous Le Sceau De La Guerre Froide. Berlin 1957-1994.” Revue d'Allemagne et des pays de langue allemande. Société d'études allemandes et des pays de langue allemande, June 16, 2018. https://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/517#tocto2n2. [PP-10-11]

[3] Bank, Charlotte, and Ismail Al Rifa'i. Marwan: Topographies of the Soul. Sharjah, UAE: Barjeel Art Foundation, 2014. [P.1]

[4] Maléfan, Pascal Le. “La Marionnette, Objet De Vision, Support De Regard ; Objet Ludique, Support Psychothérapeutique.” Cliniques méditerranéennes. ERES, October 1, 2005. https://www.cairn.info/revue-cliniques-mediterraneennes-2004-2-page-227.htm. [P.3]

[5] “Marwan Kassab-Bachi (1934–2016).” ArtAsiaPacific. Accessed April 27, 2020. http://artasiapacific.com/News/MarwanKassabBachi19342016.

Sources

Bank, Charlotte, and Ismail Al Rifa'i. Marwan: Topographies of the Soul. Sharjah, UAE: Barjeel Art Foundation, 2014.

Boullata, Kamal. "MARWAN". Marwan-art.com. Accessed May 1, 2020.http://www.marwan-art.com/index.php?/project/kamal-boullata-on-marwan/

Eigner, Saeb. Art of the Middle-East, Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran. London, UK: Merell Publishers Limited, 2011.

Grésillon, Boris. “La Culture Sous Le Sceau De La Guerre Froide. Berlin 1957-1994.” Revue d'Allemagne et des pays de langue allemande. Société d'études allemandes et des pays de langue allemande, June 16, 2018. https://journals.openedition.org/allemagne/517#tocto2n2.

Kholeif, Omar. "Omar Kholeif on Marwan Kassab-Bachi (1934–2016)." Artforum.com. Accessed April 28, 2020. https://www.artforum.com/passages/id=65175.

Maléfan, Pascal Le. “La Marionnette, Objet De Vision, Support De Regard ; Objet Ludique, Support Psychothérapeutique.” Cliniques méditerranéennes. ERES, October 1, 2005. https://www.cairn.info/revue-cliniques-mediterraneennes-2004-2-page-227.htm.

“Marwan Kassab-Bachi (1934–2016).” ArtAsiaPacific. Accessed April 27, 2020. http://artasiapacific.com/News/MarwanKassabBachi19342016.

Parry, James V. "Faces in the Landscape." James V Parry. Accessed April 27, 2020. http://www.jamesvparry.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Artist-profile-Marwan1.pdf.

Quilty, Jim. "Marwan and Portraiture as Landscape." Press reader. October 25, 2016. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.pressreader.com/lebanon/the-daily-star-lebanon/20161025/282097751245639.

Tyson, Janet, Hakim Bishara, Hrag VartanianVeken Gueyikian, Valentina Di Liscia, Dessane Lopez Cassell, and Dan Schindel. “Saturnine Portraits Somewhere Between Damascus and Berlin.” Hyperallergic, December 7, 2015. https://hyperallergic.com/258568/saturnine-portraits-somewhere-between-damascus-and-berlin/.

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CV

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024

Marwan: Works From 1964 To 2008, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

2023

Marwan: The Jewels Of My Career, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

2020

Marwan: Editions, Meem Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2018

Works on Paper: 1968-2014, Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg, Germany

2016

Painting, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg, Germany

2015

Not Towards Home, But The Horizon, Mosaic Rooms, London, UK

2014

Marwan: Paintings and Drawings (1962-1972), Serralves Foundation, Porto, Portugal
Topography of the Soul
, Barjeel Art Foundation at Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE

2013

Marwan’s Unknown Early Work, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon

2012

MARWAN, Galeri Artist, Istanbul, Turkey

2009

Seventy Five, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
Painting, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
Open Until the End - Marwan A Retrospective in Eleven Acts, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany

2008

The 99 Attributes, The Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, Germany

2005

Damascus - Berlin - Damascus, Damascus, Syria
Marwan: Khaddousch or the unknown early work. Watercolors and drawings 1962-1971, Lindenau Museum in Altenburg, Altenburg, Germany

2004

Khaled Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan

2002

Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany

2001

Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah, West Bank
Richard-Haizmann-Museum, Niebüll, Germany

2000

Brechhaus Weissensee, Berlin, Germany

1998

Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan

1996

Al Hanager Hall, Cairo, Egypt

1995

Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan

1993

Bibliothèque National de Paris, France
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France

1991

Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne, Germany
Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany

1987

Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Kiel, Germany

1985

Gallery Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Germany

1984

Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany

1983

Overbeck-Society, Lübeck, Germany

1981

Schloss Bellevue, Documenta-Archiv, Kassel, Germany

1980

Museum of Modern Art, Bagdad, Iraq

1976

Orangerie Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
Gruenenbaum Gallery, New York, US

1972

Gallery Lietzow, Berlin, Germany

1970

Arab Cultural Center, Damascus, Syria

1967

Gallery Springer, Berlin, Germany

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

There Is No There There, MMK, Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany

2023

Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Christie’s London, London, UK
In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises
, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Arab Presences: Modern Art And Decolonisation: Paris 1908-1988
, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France

2022

In The Heart Of Another Country, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

2021

Icons, Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium
Memory sews together events that hadn't previously met, Sharjah art museum, Sharjah, UAE

2019

A la Plume, au Pinceau, au Crayon: Dessins du Monde Arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Making New Time, Sharjah Biennial 14, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE

2018

A Century in Flux, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE

2017

Viva Arte Viva, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Beloved Bodies, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
Chefs-d’Oeuvre de l’Art Moderne et Contemporain Arabe, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Modern Art from the Middle East, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, US
Syria: Into The Light, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE

2016

The Sea Suspended, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran
The Short Century, Sharjah Museum, Sharjah, UAE

2014

Here and Elsewhere, New Museum, New York, US    

2013

Kunst in Berlin. 1945 bis heute, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany

2011

760 914 cm² Druck, Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg

2010

Peripheral Vision, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE

2009

Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey

Awards and Honors

2005

Merit Order of the Federal Republic of Germany, Germany
Prix Forum Culturel Libanais, Lebanon

2002

Fred-Thiler Prize, Berlin, Germany

1977

Karl Hofer Award, Berlin, Germany

Collections

Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
MATHAF: Arab Museum Of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
Khalid Shuman Foundation: Darat al Funun, Amman, Jordan
The Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Solidere, Beirut, Lebanon
National Museum of Damascus, Syria
Atassi Foundation for Arts and Culture, Dubai, UAE
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah, Occupied Palestine
Birzeit University Museum, Birzeit, Occupied Palestine
State Museums of Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin, Germany
Berlinische Galerie, Museum of Modern Art, Photography and Architecture, Berlin, Germany
Foundation Archive of the Academy of Arts, Berlin, Germany
Berliner Bank - BerlinHyp, Berlin, Germany
Art Collections of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn, Germany
Graphic CollectionVeste Coburg, Germany
Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany
Städel Museum, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Städtisches Museum Göttingen, Germany
Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
Städtisches Museum Jena, Romantikerhaus, Jena, Germany
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Municipal Museum Jena, Romantikerhaus, Jena, Germany
Museum of Art and Cultural History of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, Germany
Bavarian State Painting Collection, State Gallery of Modern Art Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany
Ludwig Galerie Schloss Oberhausen, Germany
Landesmuseum Oldenburg, Germany
Municipal Gallery Wolfsburg, Germany
Tate Modern, London, UK
British Museum, London, UK
Serralves Museum, Portugal
Bibliothèque National de France, Paris, France
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Musée–Galerie de la Saita, Paris, France
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, USA

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