Habbah
Abraham Habbah, also known as Habbah, was a sculptor. He was born in Baghdad in 1927 in a Jewish family and died in Paris in 1998. While he at first essentially used copper for his work, in 1964, he started creating sculptures with forks and spoons that would soon become his favorite material.
Biography[edit]
Habbah's sister, Rachel, recalls that as a young boy “he would spend his days drawing in his room”, and towards the end of the 1940s, at the end of his adolescence, he started creating his first copper sculptures, “made from metal boxes or small pieces of copper (…) he would fold and bend them in the shape of a nose or an eye”.
After graduating from the Fine Arts Institute in Baghdad in 1950, Habbah left his country of birth for Teheran and then and very soon settled in Jerusalem. Around that same time, Habbah decided to quit painting (while continuing to draw) to fully devote himself to his sculptures, mainly using red copper, his preferred material that he used to fold and hammer.
In 1954, Habbah exhibited his work at the Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem. Once he received his scholarship, he left for Italy and stayed in Florence for eight months while travelling to other various cities of the peninsula. That is where he soon discovered Masaccio, Giotto, Donatello… and the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni) by Lorenzo Ghiberti which enhanced his “love for details and small things”. In the Spring of 1954, he participated in the 10th Triennale di Milano.
Habbah permanently settled in Paris in 1955. He first started exhibiting his copper works at the Haut-Pavé gallery that also put him in touch with gallery owner Iris Clert in 1956. Iris Clert played an increasingly significant role in Habbah’s life and together they started a long collaboration. She showcased his works in her Beaux-Arts gallery and later in her new Faubourg Saint-Honoré gallery. She liked to call Habbah “the sculptor from Baghdad”. From 1958 to 1961 he also worked with gallery and restaurant owner Camille Renault who let him work in an artist studio in Broué (Eure et Loir) until Habbah finally found his own artist studio in Ménilmontant.
In 1960, Habbah participated in the Art israélien contemporain exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 1962, he showcased his work at the Haut-Pavé gallery along with a number of young artists. That same year, he also took part in the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture in Paris. From 1961 onwards, Habbah started partaking in numerous shows organized by gallery owner Iris Clert, often alongside other New Realism artists. These took place at the Piccola Biennale in the Palazzo Papadopoli in Venice (1962), at the Grande Quinzaine Fiscale in Paris (1963), at the Biennale Flottante in Venice (1964), and a group exhibition in the United States during the Quinzaine Française (1966) among others. Habbah then became close friends with avec artists such as Raymond Hains, René Brô and Roy Adzak, but without himself becoming part of any group or artistic movement. For a long time, Habbah worked essentially with copper. In 1964, he discovered old cutlery, spoons and forks, at the Clignancourt, Montreuil and Vanves flea markets, and diverted these from their daily function. These spoons and forks would become Habbah’s new preferred medium and mode of expression.
In March 1966, Habbah benefited from a major solo exhibition titled Habbah, the sculptor from Baghdad that was held in Iris Clert’s gallery. The exhibition led to issue number 24 of the gallery’s journal Iris Time Unlimited, with articles written by art critic Claude Rivière and artist René Brô.
In 1968, in collaboration with Iris Clert, Habbah’s sculptures were again exhibited in Brussels and Milano in Arturo Schwarz and Renato Cardazzo’s galleries. In 1970, Habbah travelled to Turkey and Iran, where he stayed for three months. In Teheran, his works were showcased in the Negar and Ouaida galleries. In 1972, the Parisian silversmith Charles Christofle included Habbah’s works in a prestigious exhibition titled The discovery of cutlery, and showcased Habbah again in 1973 in a travelling exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. Every year, throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s, Habbah spent a few months in Venice working with poet and art critic Berto Morucchio’s support. In 1984, he stayed in New York for four months, where his work was exhibited in two galleries. In 1986, the 1900-2000 gallery showcased his work for a day at the Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain in Paris. That same year, Iris Clert died in Cannes, leading Habbah and the other artists the gallery represented, to participate in an exhibition in honor of her memory at the Acropolis Exhibition Hall in Nice. In 1990, Habbah’s work was exhibited at the Lara Vincy gallery and in 1996 he witnessed his last exhibition at the Voutât gallery in Vandœuvres, Geneva, before his death in Paris in 1998. Le Passage de Retz in Paris dedicated a major retrospective to Habbah in 2004, titled Habbah, the great master of small figures.
Exhibitions[edit]
Group Exhibitions[edit]
1954 Triennale di Milano.
1960 Art israélien contemporain, National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
1961 May 15, Inauguration of Iris Clert’s new gallery, 28 Faubourg Saint-Honoré. (41 portraits of Iris Clert by artists including Appel, Arman, Baj, Benrath, Brion, Brô, Chaissac, Copley, Courtens, Duvilliers, Fièvre, Foldès, Fontana, Geissler, Getz, Golub, Habbah, Huiquily, Man ray and Matta).
1962 Piccola Biennale at the Palazzo Papadopoli in Venice, Galerie Iris Clert in Paris.
1963 La Grande Quinzaine Fiscale, Galerie Iris Clert in Paris.
1964 La Biennale Flottante in Venice, Galerie Iris Clert in Paris.
1965 Iris Clert présente les Néo-Individualistes, Galerie Defacqz in Brussels.
1966 The Object Transformed [1], group exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from June 29 until September 5 (alongside artists Meret Oppenheim, Janet Cooper, Karen Karnes, Robert Rauschenberg, Man Ray, Jasper Johns, Olen Orr, Michelangelo and Pistoletto).
1966 Exhibition of jewelry by sculptors and painters at the Boijmans Museum Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and at the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt.
1966 Iris, cent ans de futur 1956-1966, Galerie Buren in Stockholm (alongside artists Fontana, Klein, Van Hoeydonck, Takis and Kriecke).
1966 Quinzaine Française, from October 15 to 29 at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, United States (French Fortnight, Iris Clert in Texas with the mini-school of Paris). (Alongside artists Adzak, Appel, Arman, Bro, César, Gaston Chaissac, Lucio Fontana, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Niki de St-Phalle, Soto and Vasarely).
1966 Gallery of Modern Art, Scottsdale, United States.
1966 Third International Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture at the Musée Rodin in Paris.
1968 Exhibitions organized by Iris Clert in Brussels (Carrefour and Defacqz galleries).
1969 Exhibition at the Negar gallery in Teheran, organized by Iris Clert.
1972 La table de Diane organized by gallery Christofle in Paris.
1974 Grandes femmes, petits formats, gallery Christofle in Paris.
1986 Participated in the Foire Internationale Art Contemporain with 1900-2000 gallery.
1986 Hommage à Iris Clert, Acropolis, Nice.
1989 Les Nourritures de l'art in Évry, Paris.
1996 À livre ouvert, Passage de Retz in Paris.
Solo Exhibitions[edit]
1954 Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem, January 9-30.
1962 Galerie du Haut-Pavé, Paris.
1966 Les Mille et Une Nuits: Habbah le sculpteur de Bagdad, Galerie Iris Clert in Paris, opened on March 18.
1970 Negar and Ouaida galleries, Teheran.
1972 Découverte des couverts, Galerie Christofle in Paris, July 5-28.
1974 Galerie Lauter, Mannheim.
1974 Galleria d'arte moderna Giuliano Graziussi, Venice.
1977 Galleria Bolzicco Arte, Portogruaro, May 3-13.
1981 Galerie Nora, Jerusalem.
1990 Galerie Lara Vincy, Paris.
1996 Galerie Voutât, Vandœuvres, Geneva.
2004 Habbah, Le grand Maître des petites Figures [2], Passage de Retz, Paris, April 3- May 9.
Public and Private Collections[edit]
Habbah’s works are part of prestigious public collections, including those held by the National Museum of Modern Art - Centre Georges Pompidou [3] [4] in Paris, the National Foundation for Contemporary Art in Puteaux, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Ashdod Art Museum, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Kykuit Rockefeller Estate in New York, the Museum of Drawers of Herbert Distel owned by the Kunsthaus in Zurich, as well as private collections held by several major art dealers based in countries such as France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the United States.
Extracts & quotes[edit]
« Habbah livre des sculptures martelées, coupées, tronquées, il va vers un arrachement du matériau et se refuse le luxe d'affiner les formes, tant il est tendu vers son œuvre et non délivré. Rien n'arrête cet homme paisible qui n'a qu'une volonté, qu'un seul désir, réaliser des formes s'élevant dans l'espace avec rigueur. Ce qu'il exprime, c'est toute la cruauté de la vie, c'est la misère du Proche-Orient, c'est encore pour lui, la nécessité de livrer un message qui n'appartient qu'à lui. Ce matériau lui manque parfois, mais malgré tout il ne s'arrête pas et c'est comme si un démon le possédait. Habbah prend du chewing-gum, des cartons, du papier mâché, tout doit se plier devant ses mains sans cesse en mouvement. Il arrive donc à fixer diverses densités, mais il ne peut leur enlever la rudesse car chez lui tout est sauvage, tout est appel vers une dimension absolue qu'il nous fait connaître peu à peu. […]. Grand, les yeux perdus dans le rêve intérieur, Habbah ne s'interrompt jamais de penser, de matérialiser cette mélopée qu'est pour lui la sculpture. »
— Claude Rivière, Iris Time no 24, May 18, 1966.
« Sculpteur, cet Israélien né en Irak travaillait le métal à grands coups de marteau. Il trouve maintenant son inspiration dans des couverts d'argent : il les tord, les imbrique, leur impose figure humaine. Des amis facétieux ont bien entendu dit de lui qu'il a un "bon coup de fourchette" et qu'il y va "avec le dos de la cuiller“ ! Nous dirons, plus modestement, qu'il a beaucoup de talent, aussi bien dans l'humour que dans le tragique. »
— Claude Brulé, Elle Magazine no 1059, April 7, 1966.
« Anzitutto, della creazione di Habbah non sono le posate, ch'egli usa come materia, a costruirne la tipicità. Lo accamperemmo in una zona folk da cui subito evade la sua troppo colta intelligenza. Ch'egli compia la sua azione sull'asse paradigmatico, all'interno del suo patrimonio linguistico medio-orientale, è sua forza, perchè ne riscatta la possibilità sincronica entro modelli oggi universali, dove occidente e oriente confluiscono.
Come il racconto, che le sue figure rappresentano, non è quello di genere, che affiora nella denotazione. Sono le improvvise invenzioni, rapide e ferme, dove la durata della contemplazione è infinita, che si attraggono e che costituiscono una difficile connotazione. Per questo Habbah può senza sforzo, essere inserito nel Gotha degli scultori del nostro tempo. »
— Berto Morucchio, Venice, April 23, 1977
« Il sait où il trouvera ça : un bout de métal le plus souvent en cuivre rouge, une fourchette, dans un tas de vieilles choses - au marché aux puces, n’importe où. Son œil tombe sur quelque chose qui n’a l’air de rien. Un premier choix est fait : il le ramasse ou l’acquiert. Il a hâte de le ramener chez lui. (…) Je suis tenté de voir en lui, en ce grand maître de la petite figure, le dernier des artistes-artisans (dans le sens, sinon dans l’esprit, d’un Maître du Moyen Âge), mais aussi le dernier troubadour, plus précisément un Hakawati, ce merveilleux et mystérieux conteur qui, autrefois en Orient, errait de ville en village pour déballer sa marchandise. »
— Yona Fischer, Paris, 2004
« L’œuvre d’Abraham Habbah se lit dans le sillage de la métamorphose de l’objet. Si les sculptures objets de Abraham Habbah exercent un tel attrait, une grande part provient du fait qu’au-delà de l’apparente simplicité du procédé, elles mettent en jeu une polysémie qui en appelle à nombre d’interprétations de ces figures. La première sensation est de tenir en main, ou d’avoir en face de soi, un des objets les plus usuels et fréquents de la vie quotidienne, déclenchant un effet de surprise qui transforme l’utilisateur en regardeur, l’objet se trouvant soudain comme par un effet de magie transformé en figure. De ces figures, il y aurait beaucoup à dire, à commencer par les circonstances biographiques, historiques et esthétiques durant lesquelles elles surgissent, pour bien percevoir l’enjeu de l’œuvre de Habbah : son œuvre s’inscrit dans un moment historique fertile à Paris, dans le milieu d’émergence des meilleurs artistes des années soixante, chez la fameuse marchande et galeriste Iris Clert, qui révéla Klein ou Arman, et dans l’amitié de quelques nouveaux réalistes comme Raymond Hains. C’est dire combien la relation à l’objet y joue un rôle prépondérant, la prise en considération de l’objet existent, intact comme avant-guerre dans les photos de Man Ray, ou comme quand Villeglé récupère un simple fil de fer, comme Schwitters encore à Londres lors des bombardements à une époque où il s’est d’abord agi de montrer les objets, et de former l’œil à apprécier le simple objet le plus usuel en tant que digne d’attention. C’est certainement ce que fit Habbah : apprécier en orfèvre, en homme du détail et en artiste, les fourchettes et les cuillers. Creux de la cuiller, bec, dos, collet, manche. De la fourchette, les dents, la pointe, l’entredent, le fond d’yeux, le collet, le dos, le manche… Ici l’on ne résistera guère à se souvenir des célèbres jeux verbaux de Marcel Duchamp et de l’un d’entre eux dans son recueil Rose Sélavy publié chez Guy Lévis-Mano en 1939, l’une de ces formules dont les figures d’Habbah semblent former un parfait prolongement visuel : « Du dos de la cuiller au cul de la douairière ». Non seulement le fonctionnement palindromique sonore recoupe la figuration strictement anagrammatique et palindromique de Habbah, mais le nom même de Habbah est un palindrome qui semble rejoué indéfiniment dans ses sculptures. Quand l’on sait l’importance primordiale des mots à ce moment à Paris, après Dada, après Duchamp, sans compter le lettrisme, et le Nouveau Réalisme, on ne s’étonne guère de l’amitié qui unissait Raymond Hains, ce grand manipulateur verbal et iconique, à Habbah. Habbah aborde dans le champ de l’art un palier conceptuel et matériel qui consiste, après avoir reconnu l’existence de l’objet, à aborder sa métamorphose, sa trituration. L’objet est littéralement retourné comme un gant, provoquant nombre de polysémies qui vont de l’orfèvrerie au sens dessus dessous ou à l’aspect aspect corporel liquide d’un Dali ou d’un Tanguy. Les dents de la fourchette forment parfois socle ou sont enchevêtrements et torsades, ou encore en « citant » un taureau de Picasso. »
— Marc Dachy, Paris, 2011
Texts and articles[edit]
· The Object Transformed exhibition catalog, Museum of Modern Art in New York, from June 28 until August 21, 1966, with an introduction by Mildred Constantine & Arthur Drexter.
· Claude Rivière, À la recherche de nouvelles gestuelles, Iris.time, March 1966.
· Frédéric Mégret, Habbah, le sculpteur de Bagdad attaque « à la fourchette », Figaro Littéraire, April 14, 1966.
· Isis Simiane, Découverte des couverts avec Habbah à la galerie Christofle, La Revue Française des Bijoutiers-Horlogers no 377, September 1972.
· Maria Signorelli de Sanctis, Habbah, Centro Arte contemporanea di Venezia-Milano, 1978.
· Berto Morucchio, Metalmorphose exhibition catalog, The Graziussi gallery, Venice, 1974.
· Yona Fischer, Habbah, le grand Maître des petites Figures exhibition catalog, the Passage de Retz gallery, 2004.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ The Object Transformed, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1966, p.12 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1954_300062319.pdf
- ↑ Raymond Hains et Abraham Habbah, Paris-Art, 2004 http://www.paris-art.com/raymond-hains-et-abraham-habbah/
- ↑ Abraham Habbah, Le Christ, cuivre rouge, 36,5x8,5x6cm http://art.rmngp.fr/fr/library/artworks/abraham-habbah_le-christ_sculpture-technique_cuivre-rouge
- ↑ Abraham Habbah, La Clocharde, cuivre, 30x13x5,5cm https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/ressource.action?param.id=FR_R-e711a8955ca584e6d5bb34123e1535af¶m.idSource=FR_O-135e3177ce109b504857b96e7a7ce531
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