Business & Money | Thursday 13 October, 2016 3:27 pm |

In collaboration with Artspace Dubai, The Alfred Basbous Foundation inaugurated today its fourth exhibition in Dubai. “Figurative to abstraction”,  a two part exhibition of selected studies, drawings and works of the late renowned artist  will stay on view until November 10, and the second part taking place on November 23, until January of next year at the same location.

Around 19 pieces of masterpieces were selected to be showcased for the first part of the exhibition. The art pieces are made from stone, maquette, drawings and bronze sculptures.

Acrobats, Femme acroupie, Woman, Torse, Profile, Syrène are all pieces that were part of the “Figurative to Abstraction” Exhibition. These pieces suggest an inspiration rather than the literal depiction of object or form. Alfred Basbous’ works are not portrayals of reality, they are impressions of reality. He deals with shape without prior realistic perception, even when his creations involve human features. Alfred Basbous believes that the aim of art is to discover the shape; therefore he must overcome thought and imaging to detect the shape up to the ultimate expression.

The art of Alfred Basbous is rich in modulation, because in his work he always tries to avoid the decoration, the cute and the stylish and go towards combining the aesthetic harmony in conflict and struggle in the same artwork. His artworks reveal their secrets to the observers without keeping them confused trying to interpret it.

The curator, Fadi Alfred Basbous stated: “We are thrilled to be here today, showcasing the chef-d’ oeuvres of the late Alfred Basbous. This is our fourth time in the UAE, and every time the country proves to us more and more its appreciation to art. In 1998, we had our first exhibitions in Abu Dhabi Cultural Center and Dubai Cultural Center. Almost 20 years later, the works of Alfred Basbous are still a testament to modern art in Dubai”

Basbous sculpted voluptuous and feminine forms which are unusually modern for their time. His work glorifies women in all stages of life: single or coupled, from birth to motherhood.

Alfred Basbous was born in Rachana, Lebanon in 1924. His first exhibition in Beirut, at the Alecco Saab gallery in 1958, marked the beginning of a long and successful career as a sculptor. Throughout his life, Basbous won many awards including the "Prix de l'Orient" in Beirut in 1963 and the price of Biennale in Alexandria in 1974. When he died in 2006, the President of the Lebanese Republic, in order to honor him, awarded him the "Medal of the Lebanese Order of Merit in Gold.”