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Lot Essay
Notoriously a reclusive character that was well revered amongst the Egyptian artistic circle, Hassan Soliman has often been referred to as the 'Last Knight of the 50s' for his contribution to artistic history. One of the artist's most accomplished and infamous works, The Last Supper from 1967 reflects a deep sense of anguish, defeat and emotional expression following the defeat of Egypt in the 1967 war against Israel. It was a piece that was so intrinsically a part of the artist's oeuvre that it remained in his studio after he painted in 1967 aimed for a private museum that the artist intended to establish to depict his artistic vision. Sensing he was going to be unable to fulfil this ambition in his lifetime, the artist contributed this work to the Pharos Art Collection only six months before his passing.
In The Last Supper, Soliman alludes to Leonardo Da Vinci's infamous fresco of the same title. Soliman replaces the figure of Christ with a figure of an Egyptian individual - his features are distinctly North African - deceived and deeply disappointed by his surroundings. The figures surrounding the protagonist are dressed in green facial masks in an attempt to evoke an implicit sense of deceit and concealed truth, motive and identity. The use of the emerald green stands out against the sombre hues of the painting. By highlighting these individuals, Soliman intended to raise questions of their real power, in a way very much questioning the powers of those political players that were involved in the downfall of Pan-Arabism following defeat. Additionally, the use of the masks transforms the painting into a scene at a masked ball, as if implying that Egyptians were all players in a theatrical scene controlled by the master in the centre or an expression of someone who has bared their soul only to be deceived in the intensity of the illusion and tragedy.
In the early 1960s Soliman studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, touring Europe to visit museums and art galleries. It comes as no surprise that he was particularly inspired by Da Vinci's works, Goya's Shooting of the Third of May as well as Picasso's Guernica as an expression of artistic creation following tragedy brought on by war. Equally, Soliman injects as much suffering and despair onto the face of the central figures as the overall sense of tragedy that was so expressively captured in these European masterpieces.
An interesting addition to the composition is the single loaf of bread that remains on the table in front of the central figure. A link to the Christian symbolism of the bread as the body of Christ and thus as the body of His people, Soliman also uses the bread to allude to the socio-economic situation and poverty that thrived in Egypt in the 1960s, implying that the bread not only represents the population, but the lack of food available to the poor and the struggles they were forced to endure. In this sense, it represents a challenge to authority and questions, much like the rest of the composition, those who held high positions of power.
The present work, despite its multiple references to Western history of art, reveals the artist's Egyptian heritage and his observation of the society in which he lives.
In The Last Supper, Soliman alludes to Leonardo Da Vinci's infamous fresco of the same title. Soliman replaces the figure of Christ with a figure of an Egyptian individual - his features are distinctly North African - deceived and deeply disappointed by his surroundings. The figures surrounding the protagonist are dressed in green facial masks in an attempt to evoke an implicit sense of deceit and concealed truth, motive and identity. The use of the emerald green stands out against the sombre hues of the painting. By highlighting these individuals, Soliman intended to raise questions of their real power, in a way very much questioning the powers of those political players that were involved in the downfall of Pan-Arabism following defeat. Additionally, the use of the masks transforms the painting into a scene at a masked ball, as if implying that Egyptians were all players in a theatrical scene controlled by the master in the centre or an expression of someone who has bared their soul only to be deceived in the intensity of the illusion and tragedy.
In the early 1960s Soliman studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, touring Europe to visit museums and art galleries. It comes as no surprise that he was particularly inspired by Da Vinci's works, Goya's Shooting of the Third of May as well as Picasso's Guernica as an expression of artistic creation following tragedy brought on by war. Equally, Soliman injects as much suffering and despair onto the face of the central figures as the overall sense of tragedy that was so expressively captured in these European masterpieces.
An interesting addition to the composition is the single loaf of bread that remains on the table in front of the central figure. A link to the Christian symbolism of the bread as the body of Christ and thus as the body of His people, Soliman also uses the bread to allude to the socio-economic situation and poverty that thrived in Egypt in the 1960s, implying that the bread not only represents the population, but the lack of food available to the poor and the struggles they were forced to endure. In this sense, it represents a challenge to authority and questions, much like the rest of the composition, those who held high positions of power.
The present work, despite its multiple references to Western history of art, reveals the artist's Egyptian heritage and his observation of the society in which he lives.