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Radio Liban

lf the Paintbrush Speaks

Prepared & read by Nada Kouatly
Directed by Salim El Shamaa

Since painting has been historically the oldest means of expression and communication among the human beings in the caves,  grottos, and the museums, and it has been a mirror of our reality and a haven for our imagination, this program, If the Paintbrush Speaks, came into existence to highlight the most famous painters and artists.

The brush, pencil, scissors and steel tools  witnessed the artist’s, Abdallah al Chahhal,  persistence and creativity inspired by the people of Lebanon, its milieu, and its archeological features that he painted, cut, and rubbed in order to transform the black into a radiant light through the art of Grattage.

Abdallah was born in green (Al Fayhaa) Tripoli, capital of the north, in 1926. He was raised in a cultural, artistic, and a classy atmosphere so that his first playground was that huge space in Tripoli which looked over his maternal grandfather’s, Mohamad Kamel Al Bouhairy, founder of the first newspaper in the capital of the north and publishing house. Also, his uncles’ printingpress establishment provided him with knowledge and the opportunity to see other artists’ work. My friend was educated in Tripoli before the family moved to Beirut where he joined The Islamic Maqassed School.

Since his childhood, Abdallah al Chahhal was a mass of high tact and humanistic sense. I witnessed the birth of his talent in painting before he got introduced to the alphabet impacted by his uncles’ printinghouse atmosphere and his cousin, the well-known artist, Radwan al Chahhal. His artistic talent was encouraged and praised by his parents and his brother Bassam al Chahhal so that he excelled all his classmates in the drawing class in which he contributed in many school activities I took part in with him. As a result, he produced Al Sanawbar journal in Al Maqassed School and supervised several students’ activities and festivals. My younger friend was jubilant when he got the Ministry of Education prize for a technical work in the form of a 1 meter length truck with perfect integrated attributes. At that time, his teacher anticipated that he becomes a mechanical engineer. However, the power of art was stronger by attracting him to its kingdom and I was glad at that.

I also witnessed the first daring step my friend Abdallah al Chahhal took with his cousin Radwan al Chahhal when they established a painting and advertisement office in 1949, but after years, Abdallah became independent in his studio in Al Maared street in Beirut where he contributed in designing the front covers and illustrations of school books for a publishing house in Sidon. He also designed and illustrated many literary, poetic, and historical books.

Among those Adballah al Chahhal attracted to his studio was the late artist Paul Ghiragosian in his beginnings and the calligrapher Fouad Stephan. Also, his work attracted the attention of the famous londoner Longmans Green publishing House which asked him to design and illustrate its educational books.

His talent was not only restricted to having a critical and brilliant sense, but also his caricatures which headed several newspapers and magazines were always humorous. He did that with several techniques, one of which was the Silhouette or drawing faces with the scissors. Abdallah launched this new technique in the Arab world during his participation in Damascus International Fair. With his dexterity and accuracy, Abdallah drew the face features by revealing them gradually on the paper.

In 1990, Abdallah al Chahhal exhibited highly accurate and creative 31 paintings of Tripoli monuments and landmarks in the cultural association hall in Tripoli. Among his materpieces inspired by Tripoli are: The Lebanese Nature; John the Baptist’s Church; A Princess from Lebanon;

The Great Mansouri Mosque; The orchard guard; and Al Balamand Monastery. His masterpieces achieved him high reputation and admiration in the Arab world and beyond.

I saw my friend Abdallah al Chahhal carrying the scissors and executing the silhouette of many personalities like Omar Karami, Sheikh Maurice al Jmayyel, and many others in the mountaineous hotels. During his outings to hunt and fish, nature inspired him to create his most beautiful pieces of work.

In 1975, during his final years, my friend Abdallah al Chahhal focused his work on drawing using the Grattage unique art. He practiced this art by drawing with accuracy the form he aimed at by cutting with a steel device paper fortified by the black color.

However, when war erupted in Lebanon in the same year, 1975, Abdallah turned his back to it and accompanied me to Berlin where he got permission to practice fine arts. There, he met the director of the fine arts institute where Abdallah showed him his masterpieces. Introducing him to the audience of the institute, the director in his speech described him by saying: “You are one person but haunted by 7 artists.”

By the end of 1992, my friend Abdallah al Chahhal passed away surrounded by his family members and friends  when he was at the peak of his artistic production and creativity. He left us after having gone through a path full of hard and exhausting work. Through that, he highlighted features of faces, countries, and monuments on the black paper.

Goodbye to the sensitive artist from Tripoli who was optimistic and haunted by 7 artists.

Radio Liban with greetings from Nada Kouatly and Salim al Shamaa.

Translated into English by Jacqueline Younan