Transmutation III

1991
Not on view
Basil Alkazzi studied at the Central School of Art in London and went on to live in multiple Western cities. Throughout, he has maintained a core sense of the spiritual and metaphysical in his work. His abstract images and symbols of nature are often inspired by a search for the sacred and the meaning of life. He paints dreamlike nightscapes, landscapes, and representations of cosmic space. The double triangle reoccurs in his later work, one denoting the body with its base on earth and reaching upward toward the heavens, the other symbolizing the soul based in the heavens and pointing earthward to support the body. In 1986, Alkazzi established the Basil H. Alkazzi Foundation Awards at the Royal College of Art London and in 1987 he founded the Basil H. Alkazzi Award for young and emerging U.S. painters.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Transmutation III
  • Artist: Basil Alkazzi (Kuwaiti, born 1938)
  • Date: 1991
  • Medium: Opaque watercolor on paper
  • Dimensions: 30 × 22 in. (76.2 × 55.9 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Ronald A. Kuchta, 1996
  • Object Number: 1996.264.3
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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