The Vortices of Wrath (Lebanon 1977)
Encyclopedia
The Vortices of Wrath is a triptych
painted by Nabil Kanso
in 1977. It is part of the Lebanon series began in 1975 in response to the Lebanese Civil War
. The triptych is done in oil
on canvas
measuring 3 X 7.60 meters (10 X 25 feet). The center is 3 X 3 meters (10 X 10 feet) and each side 2.75 X 2.30 meters (9 X 7.5 feet).
The central painting focuses on a screaming inverted female figure having her arms and legs tied to chains being pulled by four menacing figures. It is suggested by some art critics that the depicted woman "personifies Lebanon being torn apart from all directions by the forces of terror". She is turned upside down and surrounded by chaotic mess of menacing figures, barbs, chains, and specters of death extending their devastation to the entire space of the canvas.
The brutality and violence of the expression at the center surge and resonate in the adjoining side canvases. The left painting shows two warring figures fight each other against a “massive fire-lit face of a child” and the right side depicts a monstrous figure grabbing infant figures.Above and behind them are pleading figures engulfed by chaos and terror
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
painted by Nabil Kanso
Nabil Kanso
Nabil Kanso is a Lebanese-American painter born in Beirut, Lebanon.His works deal with contemporary, historical and literary themes, and are marked by figurative imagery executed with spontaneous and vigorous handling of the paint and often done on large-scale formats...
in 1977. It is part of the Lebanon series began in 1975 in response to the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
. The triptych is done in oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
on canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
measuring 3 X 7.60 meters (10 X 25 feet). The center is 3 X 3 meters (10 X 10 feet) and each side 2.75 X 2.30 meters (9 X 7.5 feet).
Description
The triptych reflects aggressive use of brushstrokes and intense rendering of relationships of color, form and structure in conveying the atmosphere and mood of the subject matter. Menacing and terrified figures seem to “burst out of the canvas to reveal the inner realities of war”.The central painting focuses on a screaming inverted female figure having her arms and legs tied to chains being pulled by four menacing figures. It is suggested by some art critics that the depicted woman "personifies Lebanon being torn apart from all directions by the forces of terror". She is turned upside down and surrounded by chaotic mess of menacing figures, barbs, chains, and specters of death extending their devastation to the entire space of the canvas.
The brutality and violence of the expression at the center surge and resonate in the adjoining side canvases. The left painting shows two warring figures fight each other against a “massive fire-lit face of a child” and the right side depicts a monstrous figure grabbing infant figures.Above and behind them are pleading figures engulfed by chaos and terror