Untitled

A striking calligraphic work by the renowned Lebanese artist Hussein Madi, this painting at once spells the name of "ALLAH", and also part of the Shahada (the Muslim creed). The colourful all-over patterning is a repetition of the word Al-Rahim ("The Merciful"). It is an early attempt to create a new style of Arabic calligraphy on which Madi worked for many years, starting in the late 1960s. This experiment calumniated in his "Madi Style" of the Arabic Alphabet, which was later issued in a limited edition of lithographs and widely circulated. A recent exhibition at the Sursock Museum in Beirut (February-March 2006) included a lithograph of this alphabet which was presented by Madi to support the new National Library