Lamenting

I always wanted to do a piece after Rembrandt’s Jeremiah lamenting Jerusalem’s destruction and I could not find a more appropiate subject than the horrific destruction of Aleppo. Up to this moment I have not worked out a political or social theme in my works. The reason is such themes are relative in time and soon will be replaced by new topics. Besides that, there are journalists and politicians to cover these. This having said, I was shocked by the destruction of Aleppo and I felt I had to make a statement. Hence the link to a biblical theme that at least has some eternal value and that is what I am aiming for as an artist.

Immediate Cause

The immediate cause to draw this pastel was the realisation in pastel of a previous graphite pencil drawing ‘Nude – 03-09-15’. I was content with the execution of it and I wondered what pastel color might add to the motif. The right upper corner offered me the space to depict a styled and symbolic version of Aleppo. Because the background and the cubist style allows not too much detail I chose for an abstracted minaret and dome typical for the arabic world. The red and yellow flames are very saturated but small from a quantitative point of view. This is why it works as a strong signal but without stinging in the eyes too much.

In Oil

In 2019 the series was completed with a version in oil: ‘The Widow of Aleppo (2019)’. It was almost sold just after completion but I am certain that I will sell it eventually.

Click here to read about the sale of the art work to an American collector through vangoart.co

Click here to read about the sale of a print of this art work through icanvas.com.

Pastel drawing on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch paper (50 x 65 x 0.1 cm)

Artist: Corné Akkers