Lot 81: A Couple, or Homage to Arshile Gorky

Mohammed Rawas (Lebanese, b. 1951)
A Couple, or Homage to Arshile Gorky
signed and dated 'M.RAWAS 75' (lower right)
oil and charcoal on canvas
58½ x 27½in. (149 x 70cm.)
Painted circa 1970s

Beriut, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Mohammed Rawas selective retrospective exhibition, 2004

The Art of Rawas, London, 2004 (illustrated in colour, p. 51)

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BEIRUT

Mohammed Rawas is well-known for his complex assemblages, faceted and mutli-layered images often quoting from European art and photography. The present lot is a rare example of his work from the formative period of his work. In this early painting we can see already see his internationalist tendencies and the fragmenation of the composition looks forward to his more recent mixed media assemblages.