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Lot 12*
Aref El Rayess(Lebanon, 1928-2005)Displaced from the South (Naziheen min aljunub)
Withdrawn
Amended
21 May 2025, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£30,000 - £50,000
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Nima Sagharchi
Group Head
Aref El Rayess (Lebanon, 1928-2005)
Displaced from the South (Naziheen min aljunub)
oil on canvas
signed "Al Rayess" and dated "1973" in Arabic, dedicated on the verso in 1976 "To my brother and comrade, Fares Boukhatem, with sincere affection and respect for a creative artist and true activist", executed in 1973. Titled "Displaced from the South" in Arabic, on the verso (bottom left)
100 x 100cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8in).
oil on canvas
signed "Al Rayess" and dated "1973" in Arabic, dedicated on the verso in 1976 "To my brother and comrade, Fares Boukhatem, with sincere affection and respect for a creative artist and true activist", executed in 1973. Titled "Displaced from the South" in Arabic, on the verso (bottom left)
100 x 100cm (39 3/8 x 39 3/8in).
Footnotes
Provenance:
Collection of Algerian artist Fares Boukhatem, thence by descent
Gifted and dedicated to the above by the artist, Algiers, 1976
Exhibited:
Algiers, Galerie Racim, UNAP: Hommage a la marche de la Revolution Arabe et du Tiers Monde,, April-May 1976, No.36
An extremely rare and significant 1973 painting by Aref Rayess from the collection of the artist Fares Boukhatem, exhibited during Aref's formative stay in Algeria in the year 1975-76
"To the comrade and colleague, The artist Fares Boukhatem, with respect and appreciation" – Aref El Rayess
Created in 1973 and dedicated three years later to the Algerian artist and freedom fighter Fares Boukhatem, Displaced from the South is one of the most powerful visual meditations on loss, resilience, and exile from Aref El Rayess's pivotal North African period. Painted during his extended stay in Algiers after seeking refuge from the escalating violence in Lebanon, the work reflects a profound moment of rupture.
It captures both the artist's personal journey and the broader narrative of displacement affecting thousands of Lebanese civilians during the Israeli bombing campaigns of 1972 and 1973.
Three frontal female figures dominate the composition. They are resolute, dignified, and unflinching. Rendered in bold, flattened planes of saturated colour, their stylisation may nod to the synthetic simplicity of Gauguin or the symbolic clarity of Rousseau. Yet they are unmistakably Rayess in their emotional directness and quiet defiance. Behind them reclines a monumental maternal nude, her form abstracted and statuesque. She suggests not eroticism, but endurance, protection, and rootedness in the face of upheaval. The figures form a unified front, embodying the pain of exile and the strength of those who endure it.
Rather than depicting scenes of war or violence, the painting captures its aftermath. It conveys the psychological toll, the sense of vigilance, and the resilience of families forced to flee. The woman in the green dress turns slightly away, alert to danger. The woman in orange gazes directly ahead, confronting the viewer. A small, childlike figure in a hat appears lower in the composition, evoking both innocence and the precariousness of future generations caught in cycles of conflict.
Displaced from the South can be read as a deeply personal lament as well as a broader commentary on the cost of war for civilians, especially women and children. Rayess's figures speak to the silent burdens carried by the displaced: burdens of memory, of identity, and of survival.
The painting's dedication to Fares Boukhatem - himself a prominent artist and veteran activist - deepens its political and personal resonance. Boukhatem was known not only for his participation in the Algerian liberation struggle, but also for championing art as a weapon against oppression. His friendship with Rayess was forged through a shared belief in art's ability to shine a light on conflict and suffering.
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This lot has been withdrawn.