Experience of the Nakba

Juliana Seraphim was born in Jaffa, Palestine in 1934. Her family were forcibly displaced from their home in 1948, a tumultuous period that saw the large-scale displacement of nearly one million Palestinians from cities such as Haifa, Safad and Jaffa. The events are referred to as the Nakba or translated to the ‘Catastrophe’ in Arabic. Her family fled to Lebanon and by the age of 14 Juliana had settled with her family in Beirut. These early childhood experiences would remain at the forefront of Seraphim’s artistic practice who explored themes of identity, fragmentation and resilience.

At the age of 18, Seraphim started work for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency focusing on refugee relief. In the evenings she would take art lessons from Jean Khalife who went on to organise her first solo exhibition held in his studio. In 1959, Seraphim enrolled at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts and travelled to Florence for further training and the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid.

Spirituality and the subconcious

Seraphim’s childhood visiting her grandfather who lived in a monastery in Jerusalem opened up a mystical world of unknown beasts and characters which sparked her imagination, inspired by the mystical frescoes adorning the walls of the monastery. These fantastical visions featuring hybrid creatures and ethereal beings became a hallmark of her visual language. Female figures often morphed with natural elements like flowers, shells, or sea life, creating dreamlike compositions steeped in nostalgia and surrealism. The recurring motifs from the sea recall her childhood in Jaffa and speak to a longing for a lost homeland.

Lot 223 (above) illustrates a female figure with cascading blond hair morphed with a conch shell in Seraphim’s signature palette of soft pinks, blues and greys. This work exemplifies her unique artistic vocabulary, shaped through a distinctly feminine lens, exploring female sexuality and spirituality via surreal metaphors and subconscious imagery. Seraphim invites the viewer into a parallel world, an escape from reality into deeply personal, surrealist visions.

The natural world

Lot 224 and lot 225 were likely executed circa 1983 around the same time that Juliana Seraphim held a prestigious solo exhibition at Galerie d’Art Bekhazi in 1980. The exhibition consisted of twenty-five works in oil and a further twenty-three ink studies. Titles included La Cheval Perle (7), La Metamorphose du Coquillage (15) and Orchidee (18-25). In a press article covering the opening of the exhibition they express how the ‘Gab Centre (Galerie d’Art Bekhazi) had almost become a greenhouse, as the painter of flower-women has received baskets of plants of all kinds.’ 4 May 1980, Aux 4 Vents.

Similarly, L’Insolite Rencontre (lot 224) draws heavily from the natural world: a large petal emerges from the canvas’s edge, while a central insect-like figure dominates the composition. The longer one observes, the more hidden symbols and dreamlike motifs begin to surface a testament to Seraphim’s masterful ability to awaken the viewer’s imagination. Il Pleut des Rubis (lot 225) likely stems from the series of Orchidee Seraphim created in 1980. Red rubies rain down the canvas with shadows of a mythological creature and architectural formation in the background.

Don't miss your chance to bid on these fantastic works of art as well as other amazing pieces by Stanley Spencer, Frank Dobson, Man Ray, and many more at our Modern and Contemporary Art sale on 10 July 2025!

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Auction Details

Thursday 10 July, 10,30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

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VIEWING IN LONDON (HIGHLIGHTS)
Friday 27 June: 10am-4pm
Monday 30 June: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 1 July: 10am-4pm

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Sunday 6 July: 10am-3pm
Monday 7 July: 10am-4pm
Tuesday 8 July: 10am-4pm
Wednesday 9 July: 10am-4pm

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