Carl Abraham
Abrahams was born in Kingston, Jamaica and began his career in commercial art at the age of 17 as a cartoonist and an illustrator for The Daily Gleaner and the Jamaica Times.
In 1937, while on a working holiday in Jamaica, Augustus John, the iconic British artist, encouraged Abrahams to begin painting professionally. Abrahams taught himself to paint through self-study courses and manuals and by copying masterpieces from art books.
In 1944, during World War II Abrahams served in the Royal Air Force in England. By the mid-1950s he had found his calling as a painter of religious subjects.
The National Gallery of Jamaica said of his monumental series of 20 paintings of The Passion of Christ that "the devout sentiment of a true believer marked Abrahams as Jamaica and theCaribbean's finest religious painter."
He was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal for his work by the Institute of Jamaica in 1987.
His final decades saw few new developments in his style and he often repeated or created variations on many of his earlier paintings. Abrahams died peacefully at his home in 2005 of cancer and a brain tumor.
Works
In 1937, while on a working holiday in Jamaica, Augustus John, the iconic British artist, encouraged Abrahams to begin painting professionally. Abrahams taught himself to paint through self-study courses and manuals and by copying masterpieces from art books.
In 1944, during World War II Abrahams served in the Royal Air Force in England. By the mid-1950s he had found his calling as a painter of religious subjects.
The National Gallery of Jamaica said of his monumental series of 20 paintings of The Passion of Christ that "the devout sentiment of a true believer marked Abrahams as Jamaica and theCaribbean's finest religious painter."
He was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal for his work by the Institute of Jamaica in 1987.
His final decades saw few new developments in his style and he often repeated or created variations on many of his earlier paintings. Abrahams died peacefully at his home in 2005 of cancer and a brain tumor.
Works
- Last supper
- Destruction of Port Royal
- Woman I Must Be About My Father's Business
- Adam and Eve
- Thirteen Israelites
- The Henry Ford Show
- Pan and His Musicians
- Backyard Preacher
- The Hand of Columbus
- The Ascension
- Hallelujah
- Royal Air Force (RAF) Award
- New York Critics Award
- Silver Musgrave Medal of the Institution of Jamaica
- Order of Distinction (Jamaica)
- Gold Musgrave Medal of The Institution of Jamaica (1987)
Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, Leonardo da Vinci's late 1490s mural painting in Milan, Italy, being the best-known example.
|
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myths of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. The story of Adam andEve is central to the belief that God created human beings to live in a paradise on earth, although they fell away from that state and formed the present world full of suffering and injustice. It provides the basis for the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. It also provides much of the scriptural basis for the doctrines of the fall of man and original Sin, important beliefs in Christianity, although not generally shared by Judaism or Islam.
|
As we view the vast body of work created by Carl Abrahams and, in
particular, the masterpiece of the National Gallery's collection, "The Last
Supper" painted originally in 1955, it becomes apparent that here is an artist
inspired by religious conviction and by his careful reading of Old and New Testament
narratives.
"The Last Supper", painted in 1955, although the
first of three renditions of this time honoured event epitomises the life work of this
artist Carl Abrahams. For in this work we see the coming together of two facets of
Abrahams' abilities - the facility to paint and the facility to interpret and speak to his
audience in a visual form which even the layman can understand.
The scene is a familiar one: Christ surrounded by his
disciples shares a last meal, a meal full of such meaning and symbolism that this
communion has enacted a million times over. Yet, the solemnity of the meal is overshadowed
by the drama which follows when Christ announces knowledge of his betrayal. In shock,
fear, jealousy, rage, and sorrow, the disciples are depicted, displaying a range of
emotions as they turn one to another to consider this announcement.
The setting, as well as the colour is spare - muted shades
of grey, with occasional pink and blue highlights are explored to capture an atmosphere of
intensity and impending gloom. But the sparity of colour and background feature seem
intentional as the viewer is impelled towards the faces of the actors in this scene. For
here Abrahams comes into his own as the painter unparalleled in Jamaican painting as he
documents the personalities of the disciples who surround Jesus. All twelve are depicted
possessing individual qualities, but it is the viewer who is ultimately left to decide who
is the betrayer.
Yet, it is Abrahams' portrayal of Christ which is most
moving. Christ attended by his devoted Peter, almost recedes into the background of this
painting; He has no part in this discussion which so animates the disciples. He appears so
deplete of the mortal energies which revel in condemnation and accusation of sin.
Abrahams' every brushstroke supports this; the painting very expressively painted, certain
quick, brushstrokes document the various expressions on the faces of the twelve,
spontaneity of response is evoked, yet this haste is not apparent in the paint Christ
image. This Christ figure obviously more considered than the others, is captured in
response - hand folded and constrained, eyes cast downwards and the shoulders somewhat
hunched . Christ is no longer a partaker, of this meal, he is preparing himself for the
events ahead.
This scene of the "Last Supper" is but one
instance in the unfolding narrative in Jesus' life which Abrahams, in his career as an
artist, has documented. This work in 1955 was to instigate a body of religious works, some
of the most moving, belong to his depiction of the passion.