Artist:

Peter "Charlie" Attie Besharo, born Syria 1899-died Kittanning, PA 1960  Search this

Medium:

oil on paper

Dimensions:

sheet and image: 22 5/8 × 28 3/4 in. (57.5 × 73 cm) irregular

Type:

Painting

Folk Art

Date:

ca. 1950-1960

Exhibition Label:

Peter “Charlie” Attie Besharo made paintings about intergalactic travel and strange beings. Besharo immigrated to the United States around 1912, from Syria. He was a Catholic, but being an ethnic Arab in predominantly white Leechburg, Pennsylvania, created a lasting feeling that he didn’t belong. His imagery was never straightforward and conveys alienation and searching, the artist’s quest to feel at home in a foreign land. Into these semi-narrative, otherworldly spaces, Besharo layered symbols of spirituality, patriotism, divine protection, and his hopes for peace on earth. In this painting, the artist writes the word “heaven” as “haven”—connecting—even if unintentionally—the spiritual cosmos and an earthly place of refuge.

(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Topic:

Figure group  Search this

Landscape\cemetery  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson

Object number:

2016.38.2

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Graphic Arts

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7e8a27cb0-3a6d-48bc-ad67-951f6665a01e

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_2016.38.2