ABSTRACTION AND CALLIGRAPHY – TOWARDS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE | LOUVRE ABU DHABI
This page belongs to one of the most sumptuous Qurans ever created. The apparent simplicity of the Kufic calligraphy, balanced composition, density of line and contrast between the powdered gold of the letters and the midnight-blue background make it a work of great purity. Composed across a double page, it consists of fifteen lines of writing in golden letters on blue-dyed velum, following a practice used for purple-coloured Byzantine imperial codices. The end of each verse is marked by an illuminated silver motif, now oxidised, while the end of each set of five verses is highlighted in the margin by an illuminated gold motif. The “Italian-style” oblong format, characteristic of the oldest productions of the Muslim West, is adapted to the very dense Kufic style, in this case in geometric mode. The angular letters, supported by a baseline, are drawn out disproportionately in relation to the relatively compact upstrokes. The difficulties in reading the text are accentuated by the absence of vowels. The extreme geometrisation dictates the pagination and formal repetitions. This mashq technique, very much in vogue in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, emphasising the graphics of the letter, gives rise to an abstract language, a transfigured image that is a luminous metaphor of the divine word.
ABSTRACTION AND CALLIGRAPHY – TOWARDS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE | LOUVRE ABU DHABI
Trente consists of 30 squares of similar size filled with miniature compositions. Limiting his palette to black and white, Kandinsky created a chequerboard of white motifs on black backgrounds and vice versa. For the content of the squares, the artist created pictograms summarising the artistic vocabulary he had reinvented during his Parisian years (1933–44). These drawings seem to adhere to the principle of writing, creating an alphabet of 30 signs comparable to the Egyptian hieroglyphs and the ideograms of Chinese calligraphy. The grid as a whole is reminiscent of Sumerian tablets or Aztec commemorative plaques. These allusions to foreign writing systems are connected with Kandinsky’s travels in Tunisia (1904) and the Mediterranean (1931), where he was particularly impressed by the Egyptian pyramids and took a renewed interest in hieroglyphic writing. Trente is typical of his paintings of this period, divided into nine, twelve, fifteen or thirty horizontal or vertical bands (Quinze [Fifteen], 1938; 4 × 5, 1943), with titles to match. The alternation of black and white creates a tense interplay between the figures and their background, and between each square and its neighbour. These strip-images are coherent combinations of movement and balance, geometry and writing.
ABSTRACTION AND CALLIGRAPHY – TOWARDS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE | LOUVRE ABU DHABI
Joaquín Torres -García inscribes symbols, letters and diagrammatic objects, their size determined by the format of the individual boxes. A figure, an anchor, a star, the ship Europe, a house, a clock, a bottle and a fish make up an alphabet of artefacts that hark back to early forms of writing, to a golden age when the most universal abstraction and the most obvious figuration lived in peaceful coexistence. In his utopian project to create a universal language, Torres-García probably studied pictograms: totally abstract symbols or diagrammatic representations carved on the stone artefacts of ancient civilisations.
ABSTRACTION AND CALLIGRAPHY – TOWARDS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE | LOUVRE ABU DHABI
At the time of his stay in Tunisia, Klee declared: “Colour and I are one. I am a painter.”1 This visit made such an indelible mark on the artist that he was nicknamed “the Oriental” by his friends and acquaintances. Östlich Süß bears witness to this deep impression. Composed of several different-coloured shapes, rectangles and squares, the painting is as if structured by light. It is reminiscent of his “square paintings” of the 1930s, which evoke architectural features, Arab townscapes and the Cubism of Robert Delaunay. Against this coloured background, Klee introduces symbols drawn with black lines, midway between drawings and half-remembered hieroglyphs. These pictograms, suggesting trees, a mountain and a female figure, are combined with more abstract graphic signs. The influence of Egyptian writing, reinforced by his travels in Egypt, brings to mind his impressions of Tunisia.
Louvre Abu Dhabi opened its third season with Abstraction and Calligraphy – Towards a Universal Language. In keeping with the third season’s theme of exchanges between East and West, this international exhibition marks the second major collaboration with the Centre Pompidou and is sponsored by Montblanc, a Maison whose innovative craftsmanship continues to influence the culture of writing. Charting sites of mutual inspiration around the world, and dedicated to artistic practices of abstraction, the show explores how 20th century artists established a new visual language by merging text and image, inspired by the earliest forms of mark-making and, particularly, calligraphy.
The exhibition brings together 101 masterworks on loan from 16 partner institution collections, alongside seven works from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s permanent collection, and two monumental artworks by contemporary artists whose current-day practices bring recurring themes of the exhibition to life.
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Photo by Seeing Things – Ismail Noor
Organised in four themed sections, the exhibition will investigate the timeline of abstraction as a new visual language established by artists in the early 20th century. By highlighting the rich cultural exchange taking place at that time, visitors will discover how the abstract movements were inspired by a plethora of signs and symbols, philosophies and artistic techniques from cultures and societies far from European and American capitals.
Artists including Paul Klee, André Masson, Vassily Kandinsky, Cy Twombly, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock sought a new universal language that enabled them to express their emotions in response to a rapidly changing society, breaking away from figurative conventions. The show also focuses on how these same influences informed the practices of artists from the region – from Dia Azzawi and Anwar Jalal Shemza, to Ghada Amer, Shirazeh Houshiary and Mona Hatoum. The exhibition is completed with installations from two contemporary artists, eL Seed and Sanki King, exploring how artists today are still seeking new visual forms to respond to current societal changes.
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Photo by Seeing Things – Ismail Noor 2
In collaboration with the Centre Pompidou and France Muséums, Abstraction and Calligraphy – Towards a Universal Language is curated by Didier Ottinger, Deputy Director, Cultural Programming, MNAM-CCI, assisted by Marie Sarré, Associate Curator, Modern Collections Department, MNAM-CCI. Works on loan will come from Centre Pompidou in Paris, Musée du Louvre in Paris, Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris, Administration Jean Matisse, Paris, Galerie Jacques Bailly in Paris, Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger, Paris, Musée municipal de St Germain Laval, Musée des beaux-arts de Grenoble, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York, The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, New York, Galerie Michael Werner, Märkisch Wilmersdorf, Trebbin, The McKee Gallery, New York, Mona Hatoum Studio, London, noirmontartproduction, Paris and eL Seed Studio, Dubai. Also included works are from Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Photo by Seeing Things – Ismail Noor
The first section of the show focuses on pictograms, symbolic figurative images that represented words and ideas in writing in ancient civilisations in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Work presented includes a painting by Swiss-German artist Paul Klee, who – inspired by his travels to Tunisia – created artwork that combined elements of images and letters stemming from his fascination with Egyptian hieroglyphics. This section also includes works from American artist Adolph Gottlieb, inspired by images from Native American art, and French artist André Masson, who was inspired by 17th century Indian figurative inscriptions and Arabic calligraphy.
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Photo by Seeing Things – Ismail Noor
In line with the history of writing, the second section focuses on signs, which by their very form can express universal ideas. Works on show include studies of signs by Russian artist Vassily Kandinsky, considered by many to be one of the inventors of abstract art. The show furthermore includes works from French artists Georges Mathieu, who tried to develop a lyric and rapid gesture, and Julius Bissier, who was influenced by the Chinese philosophy of Taoism. Finally, Mona Hatoum’s works endeavour to create a new alphabet of signs through found objects.
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Photo by Seeing Things – Ismail Noor
The third section will be devoted to lineaments, revealing how Western artists appropriated the energy of Eastern calligraphy in their brushstrokes to produce free and fluid lines. On display are works by Surrealist André Masson as well as works by Jackson Pollock, Philip Guston and Willem de Kooning, who were all influenced by Masson.
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi Photo by Seeing Things – Ismail Noor
The exhibition concludes with a section showing how both Western and Eastern artists incorporated calligraphy into their practice, such as Spanish artist Joan Miró, who referenced how closely painting and poetry are linked in the East. Viewers can discover how regional artists, including Shakir Hassan Al Said and Sliman Mansour, sought to free calligraphy from its purely linguistic function. This section is completed by two original monumental artworks from contemporary artists—French-Tunisian artist eL Seed and Pakistani artist Sanki King.
The exhibition is on view until the 12th of June 2021
This information is extracted from the press release.
