01 Work, The Art of War, Ismail Shammout's Crucifixion, with footnotes

Ismail Shammout , 1930-2006, Palestinian
Crucifixion, c. 1972
Oil on canvas
92 by 72cm. 36 1/4 by 28 1/4 in.
Private collection

Sold for 113,400 GBP in October 2020

Crucifixion is without question, a striking work. It is gripping and daunting, but in its abstraction, it is softened by form and a nuanced use of imagery. Shammout handles clear symbols of sacrifice and loss with a delicate sensitivity that makes what can be deeply uncomfortable and sensitive subject matter, beautifully poignant. That is the genius of this exceptional work. Through his interpretation of Jesus on the cross, with a woman and child superimposed in balanced abstraction, we can see the history of the 1948 Nakba overlaid upon it – of the particular suffering of children and women as they were driven out of their homeland. More on this painting

Ismail Shammout (1930 – 2006) was a Palestinian artist and art historian.

Shammout was born in 1930 in Lydda. On July 12, 1948, he and his family were amongst 25,000 residents of Lydda expelled from their homes by Israeli occupation. The Shammout family moved to the Gaza refugee camp of Khan-Younes. In 1950 Shammout went to Cairo and enrolled in the College of Fine Arts. After returning to Gaza in 1953, he held his first exhibition, which was a success.

Shammout and Palestinian artist Tamam al Akhal participated in the Palestine Exhibition of 1954 in Cairo. The exhibition was inaugurated by then Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser. Later in 1954, he moved to Italy and enrolled at the Academia De Belle Arti in Rome. He married al Akhal in 1959. Their work has been exhibited in several countries.

Shammout became a part of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the Director of Arts and National Culture in 1965. He also held the position of Secretary General of the Union of Palestinian Artists. He became Secretary General of the Union of Arab artists in 1969. In 1992 he and his wife, al Akhal, moved to Germany due to the Gulf War. After Germany, they settled in Jordan.

He and Al Akhal, returned to Lydda in 1997.

He died on July 1, 2006, at the age of seventy-six. More on Ismail Shammout




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