Christie’s spotlights Marwan Kassab-Bachi in 2025 Arab Art Exhibition

Christie's auction house will present "Marwan: A Soul in Exile," a major non-selling exhibition featuring over 150 works by Syrian-German artist Marwan Kassab-Bachi, as part of its third annual Arab Art Exhibition at its London headquarters from July 16 to August 22, 2025.

Facial Landscapes in Marwan's Work

Marwan Kassab-Bachi's "facial landscapes" represent his most distinctive artistic innovation – a revolutionary approach where human faces transform into topographical terrains of emotion. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Marwan developed the concept of "Gesichtslandschaft" (face landscape), a term coined by Syrian poet Adonis. In these works, he layered coats of paint repeatedly, using only four or five hues to evoke the subtleties of skin while creating undulating landscapes that reflect psychological states rather than physical appearances.auroraathena+2

These portraits transcend traditional representation by blurring the boundaries between abstraction and figuration. Marwan would often zoom in on specific facial angles to "excavate" emotional depths, describing his process as "painting souls". His watercolor and ink works from this period, such as "Facial Landscape" (1974 and 1979), employ warmer colors like violet, green, and yellow – reminiscent of Damascus memories – with distinctive techniques where paint gives form to faces but intentionally leaves blank spaces, creating fragmented visages that reveal inner truths rather than outward appearances. This signature style, with its distorted landscapes "enriched with a cacophony of colour," solidified Marwan's reputation as an artist who challenged conventional portraiture by exposing the human condition through intense psychological exploration.atassifoundation+2

Syrian Diaspora Identity in Marwan Kassab-Bachi's works

Marwan Kassab-Bachi's art powerfully embodies the complex psychology of the Syrian diaspora experience—a condition marked by dislocation, nostalgia, and the eternal quest for belonging. His works reflect what one Syrian writer describes as "the curse of the diaspora: an eternal nostalgia for something that you cannot have." Through his facial landscapes, Marwan captures the identity crisis faced by displaced Syrians who struggle with cultural duality and the perpetual journey from "being" to "nothing" to "becoming" that characterizes diasporic existence.shabaka+1

The artist's personal journey mirrors the broader Syrian diaspora experience, which now encompasses 8 to 13 million people worldwide. Like many Syrians abroad who found themselves rejuvenating familial bonds and cultural memories during periods of isolation, Marwan's work serves as a repository of cultural memory—excavating emotional depths while navigating the space between Syrian heritage and European influence. His art manifests the psychological complexity described by Stuart Hall's two-layered structure of cultural identity, where both essential unchanging elements and fluid, contingent aspects of identity coexist, making his paintings particularly resonant for understanding the Syrian diasporic condition that now stretches across continents from Brazil to Germany to Australia.theautoethnographer+2

German Expressionism Influence

Marwan Kassab-Bachi's distinctive artistic language emerged at the intersection of his Syrian heritage and his immersion in German art circles. After moving to Berlin in the late 1950s, Marwan was profoundly influenced by German Expressionism, particularly through his studies at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste under Professor Hann Trier, where he encountered contemporary movements like German Informel, American Abstract Expressionism, and French Tachisme. His mentor Trier, deeply influenced by European Impressionism and Expressionism, proved highly influential during Marwan's early years in Germany.auroraathena+1

While Marwan formed friendships with post-war German neo-expressionists like Georg Baselitz and Eugen Schönebeck, his work developed a unique character that blended expressionist techniques with his Syrian identity and responses to Arab political struggles. Unlike his German contemporaries whose art often reflected post-WWII Weltschmerz, Marwan's work drew from different inspirations, including Arab Sufi poetry. This synthesis created his signature style of distorted, emotionally charged portraiture that echoed influences from Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Francis Bacon while maintaining a distinctive voice that would profoundly impact contemporary artists in both Europe and the Middle East.atassifoundation+5