Story Quilt Art Project for Kids inspired by Huguette Caland
“I love every minute of my life, I squeeze it like an orange and I eat the peel, because I don’t want to miss a thing.”
-Huguette Caland
These images are shared for educational purposes. We do not own the rights to this image. Huguette Caland. Photo Courtesy Waddah Faris, Saleh Barakat Gallery and Agial Art Gallery
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Huguette Caland was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1931. She was the daughter of Bechara El-Khoury, a political figure who worked to free Lebanon from French rule. El Khoury would go on to become the independent country’s 1st President in 1946. It was around this time that Huguette discovered her passion for art and rebellion. Her country was liberated by the progressive politics of the era but Lebanese women were still restrained by antiquated cultural and familial expectations. Women were supposed to be good, morally pure, caretakers that stayed within the boundaries of what was acceptable.
"Lebanon was fighting for its independence and I was fighting for my mind"
We do not own the rights to this image. Huguette Caland, Une ville, 1968. Oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm. Courtesy of Studio Huguette Caland
After her father died of cancer in 1964 Huguette enrolled in the fine art program at the American University of Beirut. Painting gave Huguette a fresh perspective and she yearned for an identity of her own. At the age of 39 she left her family and all her social obligations behind and moved to Paris. In France, Huguette found the freedom and independence she was looking for. She met and began collaborating with other contemporary artists and the French fashion designer Pierre Cardin. Cardin was taken with Huguette’s personal style and commissioned her to create a line of haute couture kaftans.
“I wanted to have my own identity.. In Lebanon, I was the daughter of, wife of, mother of, sister of. It was such a freedom, to wake up all by myself in Paris. I needed to stretch.”
In her mid-50s Caland left Paris and moved to Venice, California. It was during this period that she moved away from abstract representations of the human form and toward a more detailed painting style. Inspired by the textiles, rugs, and tapestries that she grew up with in Lebanon. Caland began creating her own painted and hand drawn “cross-stitching technique”. These paintings read like intricate mosaics or patch work quilts. Each detailed section is a part of her story. A story of a rich, diverse, artist's life - well lived. Huguette passed away in Lebanon in 2019 at the age of 88.
These images are shared for educational purposes. We do not own the rights to this image. Foule’ (1970) kaftan by Huguette Caland © Daniel Terna
In 2020 Huguette's work was featured in a solo exhibit called Faces and Places. It featured six decades of her paintings, drawings, kaftans, smocks and sculptures, and included a selection of works that had never been shown publicly. The exhibit was organized around the three different geographical locations that defined Caland’s personal and professional journey: Beirut, Paris and California.
These images are shared for educational purposes. We do not own the rights to this image. Huguette Caland, Untitled, 2011 © Huguette Caland family
These images are shared for educational purposes. We do not own the rights to this image. Huguette CALAND (née en 1931) Bsaterih, 2006