My initial interest in Huguette Caland was piqued by the image, first below, of her Pierre Cardin caftans, showing at the 57th Venice Biennale, and deepened through reading The Playful Provocations (and Erotic Kaftans) of the Lebanese Artist Huguette Caland, The New Yorker, June 7, 2017, by Dana Goodyear who opens with:
In 2012, the Lebanese artist Huguette Caland took part in a group show called “Le corps découvert,” at the Institut du Monde Arabe, in Paris. One of her paintings (“Self Portrait,” from 1973), a petal-pink color field humorously transformed by a darker-pink crack at the base into an up-close rear view of a classical nude, graced the cover of the catalog. She showed whimsical, fantastical line drawings—breasts, lashes, eyes, lips, noses, noses?—that look as if they could have been torn from some secret, sexy notebook of an un-depressed Shel Silverstein. A sign in the hall forbade anyone under eighteen from entering.
Since the nineteen-seventies, Caland’s nuzzling provocations have been delighting and unsettling those lucky enough to see them. Not enough people have—though, if you are in Italy in the next six months, you can see her work in the Arsenale building at the Venice Biennale, where twenty-three pieces are on display, including eighteen erotic ink drawings …
Do click the link above to read the full piece which gives a great overview of Huguette Caland’s life, work and influences, right up to the present.
As is my way, I searched for a book on her, finding only one small paperback which arrived at my home this morning.
There just wasn’t enough information about Huguette Caland in this book so, I hit the internet again and, for those of you who love art and might be as interested as I am in inspirational women, I found the following to be the most helpful sources of information on this little-known Lebanese artist:
Radical 1970s, Erotic Artworks From Lebanese Artist Huguette Caland by Priscilla Frank, HuffPost, 12/11/2014.
Huguette Caland, Jane Lombard Gallery.
Huguette Caland at the Hammer Museum, LA.
Having spent an enjoyable morning immersed in Huguette Caland, I thought I’d share and welcome any relevant comments about her and her work that you might want to contribute.
Happy Weekend.
Source: Jane Lombard Gallery.
Source: Jane Lombard Gallery.
Source: Jane Lombard Gallery.
Source: Jane Lombard Gallery.
Source: Priscilla Frank in Huffpost, 2014.
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