A fundamentally modern artist, Paul Guiragossian produced his most poignant artworks when attempting to express the immediacy of emotionality through raw media – including charcoal, china ink, watercolour or here, acrylic. Through bold gestural lines and thick layers of paint, he oscillates between naturalism and abstraction but never settles for either. Instead, he seems only concerned by sheer human figures, which he once claimed to “worship, warts and all, from the head to the toes.” Often depicting his mother and his wife, themes of motherhood and birth were frequently suggested in his compositions, before becoming their dominant subjects. With an oeuvre that conveys an evolution of abstract practice with origins in figurative portraiture, the link between these two categorisations in Guiragossian’s work can be clearly traced. In the present work, the artist has reduced his figures into their simplest form, transforming standing figures into bold gestural lines of black paint.

For Guiragossian, Beirut’s art scene was greatly influential in shaping his career. It was there, for example, that he befriended Sala Stetie, author and art critic, and at Café La Palette where he met Jalal Khoury, theatre director and life-long friend. Importantly, La Palette was also where Guiragossian would have his first solo show. Choosing to remain throughout the Lebanese Civil War, during which the present work was completed, Guiragossian never halted painting and continued to produce a corpus that firmly established himself as a leading modern artist.

Guiragossian’s paintings are intended to be relatable both on an individual and universal level and offer a touching window on the psyche of a man who transcended cultural and identitarian boundaries to reflect on life’s fundamental values. As exemplified in Sollicitude, Guiragossian's paintings reveal a fondness towards Abstract Expressionist art, perhaps closest to Matisse, Cezanne or Picasso. His oeuvre bears a lively expressionism uniquely his own. Often described as being only concerned with his family and his art, Paul Guiragossian returned tirelessly to the same scenes and themes. This is a clear mark of Guiragossian’s earnest humanity, his sensitivity to his surroundings and a constant reflection relating to his own existential questioning.