Illustration Celebrates Adnan's Legacy in Art and Literature

Courtesy of GOOGLE

▲ The Google Doodle celebrating Etel Adnan / Courtesy of GOOGLE

Google is commemorating the legacy of late Lebanese American writer and painter Etel Adnan with an illustration on its homepage. The artwork, part of the Google Doodles series, depicts Adnan at her desk with a paintbrush, surrounded by representations of her 50-year career, including painted interpretations of the sun, sea, and mountains, as well as her prolific body of writing on themes such as war, identity, and feminism in the Arabic-speaking world.
 

▲ Etel Adnan, Untitled 2012, an oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY

Adnan, born in 1925 in Beirut, Lebanon, began painting in the 1960s while teaching aesthetics and philosophy at a college in Northern California. By the 1970s and 1980s, she had published numerous poetry and essay collections, as well as the acclaimed novel "Sitt Marie Rose," based on the true story of a woman killed for her support of the Palestinian cause during the Lebanese Civil War. 

▲ Etel Adnan, Untitled (inv #286), 2017, oil on canvas, 33 cm × 24 cm (13" × 9-7/16"), Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut / Hamburg

Her recognition in the art world gained momentum in 2012 when she was included in Documenta 13 by curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. Adnan's work was featured in the Whitney Biennial in 2014, and she was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest cultural honor, the same year. In 2021, the Guggenheim Museum in New York staged a major exhibition of her work titled “Etel Adnan: Light’s New Measure,” showcasing paintings, ceramics, artist books, and tapestries.

▲ Etel Adnan, Untitled, 2016, oil on canvas, 38 cm × 46 cm (14-15/16" × 18-1/8"), Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut / HamburgIn a 2014 interview with Bomb Magazine, Adnan reflected on the late recognition of her visual art, expressing a desire for earlier appreciation but acknowledging a trend of women artists being recognized later in life, citing Agnes Martin as an example.

Sayart

Blue YIM, yimyoungseo1010@naver.com