Lot 63: SAFWAN DAHOUL (SYRIAN, B. 1961) Rêve (Dream) signed in Arabic, signed and d

SAFWAN DAHOUL (SYRIAN, B. 1961) Rêve (Dream) signed in Arabic, signed and dated ‘DAHOUL 95’ (lower left) acrylic and metallic paint on canvas 36 3/4 x 30 1/4 in. (93.4 x 77cm.) Painted in 1995

PROVENANCE: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Safwan Dahoul’s works from the early 1990s are often associated with romanticism and iconography and reveal his use of deep blue tonalities and a soft palette of captivating hues. After the passing of his beloved wife Nawar, the colours used by Dahoul somehow faded, evidently revealing his own sentiments. Playing with light and shadow, the Syrian artist Safwan Dahoul creates monochromatic compositions that are metaphors for the darkness that has enveloped the Syrian state. Dahoul’s ongoing Dream series has explored the physical and psychological efects of alienation, solitude, and longing that punctuate the human experience at various stages in life. Partly autobiographical, this seminal body of work uses the formal properties of painting to recreate the subconscious sense of enclosure that surfaces during times of crisis, whether in the event of mourning, estrangement, or political confict. Recognised and celebrated for his depictions of empty cafés - spaces that resemble private cosmoses by the silence that they evoke – in his Blue Period, Dahoul often depicts a single fgure or couples such as in the present charming and arresting work. Sitting across from each other across a table, the male fgure, a self-portrait, looks out to the viewer in a look that incites simultaneous compassion and despair. The couple’s posture and expressions suggest a close and intimate relationship, as the woman reaches out to hold his hands, yet with her eyes closed and head bowed she appears to emanate a sense of shame or despair that longs for another reality. Painted in 1995, hints at Dahoul’s personal life are more poignant than ever, the disconnect between the two lovers perhaps a metaphor to the artist’s inner observation about himself and feelings of love. The scene depicted is an intimate one, as if the viewer has interrupted an illicit rendezvous or a closed conversation and through Dahoul’s framing of the scene, one feels right in the middle of the action. By extracting colour and reducing his palette into dual tones of blues, interspersed with fickers of gold signifying hope, Dahoul adds a timeless appeal to the image. Transcending reality it thus translates an image into a realm that is neither abstract nor real. By doing so, the artist deconstructs a scene and reduces it to its forms and tones, encouraging the viewer to engage with the work and raise questions about its content and context. Filled with symbolism and references to his own life and personal tragedies, Dahoul’s works refect upon the fragility of life and all factions of human conditions and experiences.