Sotheby’s is honoured to present Then What ??, a masterpiece by Syrian artist Louay Kayyali regarded as one of the most iconic images in the realm of modern Arab art.

Born in Aleppo in 1934, Kayyali continued his art education in Rome after earning a scholarship to study at the Academia di Belle Arti in 1956. These creative years, paired with the influences of both his Syrian heritage and his exposure to European art history, formed an important part of his oeuvre. Participating in a number of exhibitions during this time, Kayyali was notably chosen alongside Fateh Moudarres to represent Syria at 30^th Venice Biennale in 1960. The following year, upon his return to Syria, Kayyali began to teach at the Higher Institute for the Fine Arts (which was incorporated as the Faculty of Fine Art in the University of Damascus in 1963).

Regarded as one of the most palpably socialist artists in the region, Kayyali’s oeuvre is committed to the plight of Syria’s lower classes and the predicament of the masses, as apparent in his choice of subject matter. More often than not, Kayyali’s paintings feature characters and personalities who would have been ostracised, or at best ignored, by the higher echelons of Syrian society. The unique depictions of the shoe-shine boy, the fisherman, the sweets seller, and many others from the working classes, form the majority of Kayyali’s compositions.

During the 1950s and ‘60s, the wider Arab world was experiencing a modern renaissance in which artists, writers, and poets were united in cities such as Damascus, Cairo, Baghdad, and Beirut to engage in socially-committed creative dialogues. Created in 1965 in what is considered the artist’s ‘golden period,’ the prophetic composition of Then What ?? stands out amongst the artist’s body of works for its grandness of scale and poignant psychological depth. The work makes reference to Palestinian exile, which is engrained in the regional conscience; that it was conceived two years prior to the Six-Day War testifies to Kayyali’s attunement to the political climate.

Its exceptionality lies not only in the monumentality of its narrative, however, but also in the distinctly raw manner in which it is painted. In a stylistic deviation from Kayyali’s usual defined contours and use of masonite chipboard, the figures are rendered with expressive brush strokes in a dark palette with slightly opaque definitions, harking to his Italian training and creating a ghostly semblance. One cannot help but see a reflection of the artist’s own inner traumas, but the work’s power comes in the universality of the image it represents.

Then What ?? depicts a scene of displaced people, rendered with an eerie and devastating sense of premonition. Eleven figures stand huddled together, confined within the borders of the canvas, their forms concealing an otherwise ambiguous, desolate background. Though they look upwards towards the sky as if in anticipation of further assault, the varying direction of their gazes suggests a sense of disorientation, or perhaps a longing for hope. Kayyali invokes the impression that it is they who ask “Then What ??,” as per the work’s title. Flanked by veiled women, two of whom clutch their children, the central male figure is the despondent focal point of the scene; overpowered by despair, his hunched posture and downcast gaze recall Masaccio’s The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (circa 1425). Behind him, a female figure fixes her gaze to the heavens for reprieve, much like Masaccio’s Eve in the aforementioned work. Kayyali would have possibly seen or at least been aware of this work, and its parallels nod to the associated biblical heritage of modern day Palestine.

A further number of allusions and art historical references are prominent in Kayyali’s work, hailing from ancient Greek scenes of mourning to later Renaissance works. Another notable comparable is The Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio (1603-1604), now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Vatican City, which features similar compositional elements (notably the feet, hands, and expressions of grief). One also must turn to the Arab art which was being produced at this time and its similar explorations of tragedy; Kayyali belonged to a school of regional painting which employed figurative representation to address sociopolitical concerns. Although it is unclear whether the two artists were acquainted, another comparison must be drawn with Iraqi artist Mahmoud Sabri’s Al Mawt al-Tafl (The Death of a Child). Painted in 1963, just two years before the present work, there is a similar austerity in the colors and an element reflective of Soviet Realist artwork and traditional Russian Orthodox icons, which Kayyali would have also been exposed to, harking to a wider comprehension of art history.

A misunderstood character, Kayyali was affected by bouts of depression over the last decade of his life, which were exacerbated by the political events of the region. In 1967, Kayyali exhibited thirty works in an exhibition at the Damascus Arab Cultural Centre titled For the Sake of Cause. These charcoal works centered around the political themes of social injustice, but negative reviews led the artist to destroy these works, which would have been interesting to examine in the context following the creation of the present painting. Having moved back to his birth town of Aleppo, the artist became reclusive and sadly died in 1978 at the age of 44 following a fire in his home, purported to have been suicide. It is all the more remarkable that this work, which is presentient to this phase, has survived.

Kayyali’s Then What ?? stands amongst the great masterpieces of modern art from the Middle East, with its rarity, quality, and historical significance placing it alongside Mahmoud Sabri’s Al Mawt al-Tafl (The Death of a Child) (1963), Mahmoud Saïd’s The Whirling Dervishes (1929), and Bahman Mohassess’ Minotauro sulla riva del mare (1977).

Of remarkable provenance, Then What ?? hails from the distinguished Samawi Collection. Khaled and Jouhayna Samawi began collecting during their time in Europe in the 1990s and upon their return to Syria founded the internationally-established Ayyam Gallery in Damascus in 2006. Comprising over 3,000 works, the collection is one of the largest private collections of modern Arab, Iranian, and Turkish art, in addition to featuring many international artists. Kayyali’s work is a testament to the family’s dedication to the preservation of the artistic heritage of the region.