Huguette Caland

Huguette Caland
أوغيت الخوري
Born	Huguette El Khoury 1931 Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality	Lebanese
Education	American University of Beirut
Known for	painting, sculpture

Huguette Caland (née El Khoury) (Arabic: أوغيت الخوري), is a Lebanese painter, sculptor and fashion designer based out of Los Angeles.

Early life and education in Beirut

Caland was born into an important political Lebanese family. Her father, Bechara El Khoury, became prime minister during the French mandate. In 1943, he became the first post-independence president of Lebanon, serving the country for nine years. Caland is the youngest of three; her eldest brother, Khalil, passed away in 2000 and her second brother, Michel, lives in Beirut.

As a young girl, Huguette sketched her environment as well as the crowds of people that came in and out of her home. At sixteen, she studied art under Fernando Manetti -- an Italian artist residing in Lebanon at the time. Then, in college, Caland studied law at the Saint Joseph University until a serious car accident put an end to her formal education.

Caland married her husband Paul when she was 22 and together they had three children; Brigitte, Pierre, and Philippe. They lived in Beirut until the death of her mother in 1960. They moved into a house in Kaslik, which faced the Mediterranean.

After the death of her mother in 1960, Caland dedicated four years of her life to caring for her ailing father, who died in 1964. Caland and her father had a very close relationship, and his death ignited in her a desire for a new challenge. Immediately after his death, Caland began painting “Soleil Rouge/Cancer”, which was initially a depiction of the illness eating away at his body, but also the beginning of a new adventure. The death of her father also prompted her to abandon her couture wardrobe and adopt a more comfortable attire of self-designed Abayas.

She enrolled at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where she studied Fine Arts from 1964 to 1968. Her time at AUB broadened her knowledge on arts culture, including movements, both past and present, as well as various styles and techniques. There she met and befriended important art figures such as Shafic Abboud, Helen Khal, Aref Rayess, Janine Rubeiz, Adonis and J. P. Carswell -- a British professor at the American University who brought with him a Bauhausian style of teaching. Beirut, relatively peaceful with a sense of democracy at the time, was an intellectual and artistic hub.

Early work, 1960s

Caland’s early work reflects her time as a student at AUB. She renovated and spent most of her day in a studio at the bottom of her family property in Kaslik. The works created during this period are academic and formative, as she studied figures, landscapes and interiors.

Paris

After her first solo exhibition at Dar Al Fan in Beirut in 1970, Caland moved to Paris where she lived and worked as an artist for 17 years. Settling initially with her sister-in-law in the 8th arrondissement, she later moved into a studio Rue du Grand Prieuré, in the 11th arrondissement. Caland became a regular guest at the Feraud studio, meeting many artists, including André Masson, Pierre Schaeffer, and Adalberto Mecarelli.

One day in Paris, Caland recalls walking into Pierre Cardin to buy her husband a tie. While browsing the store, Pierre Cardin approached Caland and told her that he found her attire -- a self-designed caftan -- very elegant. A few days later in a letter addressed to Cardin, Caland suggested that they collaborate and make a line of caftans. To her surprise, Cardin accepted the offer, and Caland created a line based on her own style of Middle-Eastern Abayas entitled, “Nour”. As a result, in 1979, 100 caftans were shown in 1979 at Éspace Cardin.

In 1983, Caland met George Apostu -- a Romanian sculptor -- who introduced her to making work in three dimensions. Between 1983-86, Caland and Apostu worked in Paris and in the Limousin. Caland, as usual, was very prolific -- creating both paintings and sculptures. The two artists had both a professional and emotional bond until 1986, when Apostu died of cancer. The death of Apostu left Caland in need of geographic and artistic renewal. Her youngest son had moved to Los Angeles, and the art scene there was vibrant. To her, LA seemed like an auspicious opportunity, so she took it.

Erotic drawings

The evolution of her Caland's line began during her time at AUB, through exercises assigned to the class. There, students were asked to start a line at the top of the page with a pencil and, without taking it off, associate that line with 50 different words until it reached the bottom of the page. These exercises have in a way set the tone for Caland’s future creations. Moving to Paris, her line became more refined. This influence is especially seen in her erotic drawings that is comprised of hundreds of pen and ink drawings on paper. Her depiction of the human form remains dainty and whimsical throughout the series.

Bribes de Corps

Believing eroticism to be an integral and natural part of life, humorous sensuality is a recurrent theme in Caland’s art. Her first works after settling in Paris were a series of abstract, minimalist paintings depicting evocative forms. “Bribes de Corps” (“Body Parts”), is a study of Caland’s favorite subject: the human anatomy. Inspired, in particular, by her own body, the series symbolizes femininity expressed through vibrant and warm colors, that emerge as soft landscapes across the canvas.

These works have captured the attention of many and, in turn, are among the works that have cemented Caland as a major figure in the Contemporary Middle Eastern art scene.

Dresses/caftans

Caland left a wardrobe of over 150 dresses, which she wore for work and social purposes. In the early 70s, Caland created six erotic art dresses in Beirut. Later, as the dresses were to be shown at a group exhibition entitled "Mille et une nuit" at the Cultural Center of Boulogne-Billancourt, Caland created mannequins to wear them. These life-size sculptures are made out of wood, acrylic paint and foam. When not covered by the caftans, they have painted socks and foam breasts.

Limousin/granite/terracotta sculptures

While working with Apostu between ‘83 and ‘86, Caland learned a great deal about sculpture, and began to create her own. She built biomorphic figures that vary in shapes and sizes from both terracotta and granite.

During this period, Caland also painted two series entitled, “Limousin” and "Granite". These works include depictions of a quarry, still lives, and portraits of Apostu. While mostly figurative, some of these works teeter on the cusp of abstraction.

Apostu and Caland documented each other numerous times during their relationship in painting, drawing, sculpture, sketchbooks, and in photographs, including the year he was terminally ill with cancer.

Los Angeles

After the death of Apostu, Caland decided to move to California in 1987. After moving from one studio to another, in 1997 she finally established the studio of her dreams in Venice where she received members of the art community, such as Ed Moses, EF Kitchen, Stephen Douglas, Laddy Dill, Guy Dill, Peter Alexander, Nancy Rubens, Chris Burden, Bob Wilhite, Larry Bell, Joe Goode, Billy Al Bengston, James Hayward, and Veronique Vial.

Her studio became a gathering place for her friends and family. She hosted fundraisers and other events in her home and eventually was referred to as the Gertrude Stein of Venice. In her space, Caland painted numerous major series including Portraits of Ed Moses, Cityscapes, Brushstrokes, Silent Letters, Christine, Homage to Pubic Hair, and her last works on tapestry.

Although she built a substantial network of friends and artists in the city, it is only recently that she began gaining a professional recognition in the LA art scene.

Beirut 2013

In May of 2013, Caland returned to Beirut to say goodbye to her husband and father of her children, Paul, who passed away a few days after her arrival. She has been in Lebanon ever since.

Solo exhibitions

• Huguette Caland, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, 2011
• Huguette Caland Retrospective, Beirut Exhibition Center, 2013

Group exhibitions

• Art from Lebanon, Beirut Exhibition Center, 2012

External links

• Anne Mullin Burnham, 1994, Reflections in Women's Eyes, Saudi Aramco World
• Fayeq Owis, 2008, Huguette Caland, Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists
• Joanne Warfield, Byzantium in Venice: A Visit with Huguette Caland, The Scream
• "Huguette Caland: Her Magical World", Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2003, [1]
• Caland's page at the Levantine Cultural Center
• Caland's web site