ALFRED BASBOUS (LEBANESE 1924-2006)
Mother and Child
1988
signed and dated A. Basbous 88; numbered 1/8 (lower left)
bronze (black and blue patina)
71 x 17.5 x 18 cm (28 x 6 3/4 x 7 in)

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Beirut

Renowned sculptor Alfred Basbous worked almost exclusivly in stone and marble, rendering his work from a solid block with a hammer and chisel, allowing the natural form to inspire his mostly abstract shapes. He excelled at creating fluidity, and exploited negative space to give his sculptures a sense of motion. The female figure dominantes; having intially catered to an audience who preferred realism, Basbous developed his signature silouette. This streamlined the female outlines to its most basic elements, whilst retaining the fundamental curves.

The woman, in Alfred’s work, means birth with all its comprehensive human meanings. According to Alfred Basbous: “A woman means the night and the day to me, and she is present in all of my work: a woman, a lover, a mother.”