The Prophet

I was very hesitant to tackle this painting, which is of a statue of Kahlil Gibran located in Bcharre’ Lebanon at the Kahlil Gibran museum along with his tomb.  My daughter and I visited it in September of 2011.

Kahlil Gibran was a prolific poet and painter (watercolor, oil, and guache), most noted for his book, The Prophet, published in 1923, but still interesting and very pertinent in today’s world,  He left Lebanon at the age of 12 and moved to Boston. He came from a very poor family, but blossomed into a philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet and painter. He died in the US at a young age (in his 40’s) and according to his wishes, he was returned to Lebanon and buried in a 19th century monastery.   I was familiar with his drawings from his books, but not his paintings, which are truly beautiful.  He focused on the subjects of relationships, family, creation, the earth, etc. and his palette consisted mostly of the calming and mysterious greys we artists struggle to mix.