Fanous, Isaac

Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019

fanous, isaac

Monica René Keywords: Art; Christian Subjects in Coptic Art; Coptic Art; Coptic icons; Coptic Orthodox Church; Coptic painting; Coptology; Fanous, Isaac, 1919-2007; Institute of Coptic Studies; Iconography; Kirullus VI, Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, 1902-1971; Neo-Coptic Art; Painting; Symbolism in Coptic Art.

His Excellency Professor Isaac Fanous Youssef 1919-2007 Photo © Monica René Professor Isaac Fanous Youssef is singlehandedly responsible for the glorious renaissance of Coptic iconography in the mid-20th Century. His introduction of a new iconographic canon is an achievement that cannot be overestimated, as the renewal of Coptic Art in Egypt in the contemporary period is intimately linked with him as the founder of the Neo-Coptic style of iconography. Fanous created a unique artistic heritage for the Coptic Church worthy of his Pharaonic forebears. Appropriately named – fanous means “lantern” in Arabic – he was a bright beacon in a bleak artistic landscape. As a visionary and mystic, he focused on the eternal. His artistic contribution is embodied in the visual theology and the new iconographic canon he created and it will continue to provide a legacy to the Coptic Church and Christianity at large.

©Claremont Graduate University !1 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 1. Triptych 1967, St. Mark’s Coptic Museum, Toronto. 2. Flight into Egypt 1968, Church of St Mary, Convent of St. Mercurius Such early examples represent Fanous’ first steps in the Abu Sayfayn, Old Cairo. When this fresco was consecrated by Cyril VI creation of a new Coptic iconographic canon. on March 9, 1968, Holy Chrism flowed directly from the bottle onto the Photo courtesy St Mark's Museum, Toronto painting, witnessed and told by the convent’s abbess Tamav Irene. Photo courtesy St. Mercurius Convent Isaac Fanous was brought up in an educated and artistic family. His father was an avid reader and had a home library; his mother, an art lover, encouraged her children to practice drawing, painting, and clay modeling.

In 1941 Isaac Fanous received a Diploma from the Faculty of Applied Arts, Institute of Education and gained further qualification as an art teacher. While he worked at a school in Shoubra in 1948, he obtained a part-time apprenticeship in an architectural practice. Life took a different direction for him after the 1952 Cultural Revolution. Muslims and Copts, at that time, focused intently on their respective cultural heritages in order to enrich contemporary Egyptian identity. The Coptic Orthodox Church established the institute of coptic studies (ics) in 1954 and Isaac Fanous was one of its earliest research students (rene 2013: 1641). He received his doctorate in 1958 and subsequently was appointed head of the Art and Archaeology department. His research highlighted a general deprivation in sacred iconography in the Coptic Church. Coptic art had disappeared from the churches of the Nile Valley over a period of artistic and theological fragmentation, with the assimilation of foreign influences spanning the period between the 19th and 20th Centuries. Fanous declared his intention to revive Coptic art, in his own words, “to build a bridge between bawit and the present” (endnote 1).

With the blessing of cyril vi, a special permission from President Nasser, and a scholarship from the World Council of Churches, Fanous traveled to Paris in 1965 to study restoration of antiquities at Le Louvre. One of his supervisors, Pierre Du Bourguet S.J., a Coptologist and curator in Le Louvre’s Coptic Art department, was writing his seminal book The Art of the Copts at the time. He engaged Fanous’ interest in Coptic artifacts from the 4-7th Centuries and introduced discourses around the topic. Fanous spoke highly of this time at Le Louvre with Du ©Claremont Graduate University !2 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 Bourguet and the experience he gained there, not only in restoration, but in his own cultural heritage.

Providentially, while living at Le Foyer International des Étudiants in Massy near Paris, he met the Orthodox theologian Paul Evdokimov and the renowned Russian master iconographer Leonid Ouspensky, who gave a unique course in icon painting at l’institut St. Serge. Fanous took the initiative to study with Ouspensky. This inspired decision provided him with not only the traditional techniques and methods of Orthodox iconography he had long searched for, but acquainted him with the discipline of iconology taught by Evdokimov.

All had a profound and lasting impact on him.

Upon his return to Egypt in 1967, Fanous commenced the process of creating a new iconography for the Coptic Church. Steeped in his renewed appreciation of Orthodox iconography, as well as his own research into Pharaonic art, the revival of Coptic iconography began.

When Patriarch Cyril VI celebrated the 1900th anniversary of St. Mark’s martyrdom in 1968, the 3. Virgin of the Sign, 1966. Byzantine icon by Isaac Fanous Evangelist’s relics were returned from Venice to during his course with L. Ouspensky.

be enshrined in the purpose-built reliquary of the Photo courtesy Fanous Archives newly consecrated Cathedral of St. mark in Abbasiya. This historical event was attended by President Nasser, Emperor haile selassie I of Ethiopia, and many international church dignitaries. Isaac Fanous memorialized this event on the walls of St. Mark’s new shrine in 1971, showcasing the new Coptic style executed in the traditional wall-painting technique. A fresco of Christ Pantocrator surrounded by the Four Living Creatures adorned the ceiling of the crypt – the first mural of this type done in Egypt for many centuries.

Until Isaac Fanous, no theologically or culturally authentic Coptic iconography had been produced in Egypt for more than 150 years. With the influx of missionary schools, a preference developed among Copts for sentimental and naturalistic Western art (rene 2014: 274-276). Fanous received his first important commission to create the iconographic cycle for the Church of St. George, Sporting, Alexandria. This early work represents the emergence of Neo-Coptic iconography that exhibits a symbiosis of sacred iconography and the development of a strong religio-cultural symbology.

In 1969, Fanous was formally appointed head of Art and Archaeology at the ics. News of his work spread internationally, and interest grew.

His next task was to create the iconography for St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Kensington, London. This he did between 1976-1978, with an iconographic cycle that comprises ©Claremont Graduate University !3 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 5. Christ Pantocrator and the 24 Priests. St. Mark’s 4. Isaac Fanous with Emperor Haile Selassie I, in the Coptic Orthodox Church, London, 1976.

Crypt of St. Mark, 1971.

Photo ©Monica René Photo courtesy Fanous Archives two large stained glass windows, an iconostasis, a large apsidal icon measuring 5x3 meters, four large narrative icons for the nave, a large icon of the martyrdom of St. Mark, three devotional icons, a baptismal font in mosaic, a devotional icon of the Flight into Egypt, and one of Christ with the Little Children in the church’s nursery. A collection of processional and menological icons were gradually added.

This body of work exhibits a fully 6. A monk praying in front of an icon of St. Bishoy at the 4th Century monastery of the same name in Wadi Natrun. These frescoes, painted in 1972 by Isaac Fanous, form part of the iconostasis for the main monastery church. It is a unique example of an iconostasis built as a solid wall and painted in the fresco technique.

Photo courtesy Jérôme Cochet ©Claremont Graduate University !4 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 7. Stained glass window of St. Mark, 1977. St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, London. Photo © Monica René developed style in its form and content. It is a watershed example of contemporary Coptic iconography.

After completing the London church, three decades of work made it the busiest time of his life. His work flourished to adorn Coptic churches in Egypt and an expanding Coptic Diaspora. Christian Egyptians under President Mubarak had difficulties in building new, or restoring existing churches. However, many large church projects were completed by Fanous during this time. The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Tanta, the Church of St. Thekla Haymanot in Alexandria, the Church of St. Mary Ard-El-Gulf, the Church of St. George in Heliopolis, St. Mary’s Church in Garden City, the Deacon’s Chapel, the Palace of the Patriarch, and the Church of St. Mary of Zeitoun all boast some of his outstanding work.

During the 1990s, Dr. Isaac created iconographic cycles for churches in Southern California. Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles (hvla) was his first commission, which he completed between 1990 and 1996. Other projects included Sts. Peter and Paul in Santa Monica; St. Mark’s Coptic Church on Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles – the first Coptic Orthodox church established in Southern California in 1969; St. George in Bellflower; and St. Mina in Riverside – his last major project. He received his professorship from the hands of Pope Shenouda iii at the ics in 1997.

The combination of cultural pride felt by Copts in the “lands of immigration” and their search for cultural identity made Dr. Isaac’s work especially relevant and of special interest in teaching Coptic heritage to bicultural young people. The work of Father Antonious Henein at hvla, fostered major cultural appreciation for Coptic heritage – in language, music, and iconography. Many Coptic congregations were encouraged to commission Dr. Fanous and his students to create icons for their purpose built churches and private collections.

©Claremont Graduate University !5 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 Dr. Isaac Fanous always emphasized his scientific approach toward creating the new iconographic canon. As a multifaceted art form, iconography brings together academic disciplines coupled with spiritual and traditional values in its cultural production, use, and impact. Neo-Coptic icons combine the hieratic style of pharaonic Egypt with the two-dimensional art common to all traditional forms of Orthodox Christian iconography. This master iconographer believed that all his students should assimilate and synthesize this symbiosis of art, science, and spirituality in their own work.

His icons are infused with aspects of contemporary art theory, such as Abstraction, Cubism, Impressionism, and Gestalt, which he used in service of the sacred. They are encoded in the symbolic language prevalent since early Coptic art. Over the decades he revived some of the 8. Work in progress for the church of St. Mary Ard- El-Gulf at the ics studio during the 1980s.

Photo ©Monica René Isaac Fanous used the traditional technique of egg tempera on gesso that he learned from Ouspensky.

This ancient technique had been forgotten in Egypt and replaced by oil on canvas. It was last used in the 18th to 19th Centuries by Copto-Arabic iconographers Ibrahim al-Nasikh, Yuhanna al-Armani al-Qudsi, astasi al-rumi al-Qudsi and Lutfallah Shaker. Egg tempera involves working from dark to light, the same technique used in the Greco-Roman mummy portraits.

Theologically speaking, it perfectly reflects the idea of God as light, who brings mankind from the darkness of ignorance and sin into the light of Truth. This process is best described in terms of progressive illumination, as the iconographer is said to “bring out the light” from within the icon.

Unlike the religious paintings of the Renaissance, when artists used artificially lit live models, the light source of an icon originates from within the saint depicted, the inner-light. In the icon, color is essentially equated with light; thus each intermediate hue will be called a light, phos (Greek) or nur (Arabic): “This is the heavenly light of Christ that shines through His saints,”

Fanous explained.

The icon is first covered with all its darkest tones:

this stage is called underpainting, (Greek proplasmos or proto-plasmos, literally “first colors”). Symbolically speaking, this stage represents our state of blindness to the light of the spirit. The next step involves reestablishing the lines of the original drawing, thus restoring order to the design. After this step is completed, painting may begin. In this image, one icon is completed, i.e., fully lit (St. Basil), while two others (Sts. Anthony and Paul of Thebes) are still at the underpainting stage, awaiting the lighting process.

©Claremont Graduate University !6 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 9. Healing of the Lame Man, mid-1980s. St. Mary’s Coptic 10. Healing of the Blind Man, mid-1980s. St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Ard-El-Gulf, Cairo. Orthodox Church, Ard-El-Gulf, Cairo.

Photo courtesy Kirollos Kilada Photo courtesy Kirollos Kilada ©Claremont Graduate University !7 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 11. The Mocking of Christ, St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Ard-El-Gulf, Heliopolis, Cairo. Note the mockers are depicted in profile and dressed in green: two symbolic conventions in Neo-Coptic iconography for the wicked and those who are cut off from God. The gesture of raised hands with palms pointing outward and the kneeling posture are classic pharaonic attitudes for worship. Christ’s sceptre is a simple shepherd’s crook. Photo © Monica René 12. Nativity, St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Ard-El-Gulf, Heliopolis, Cairo. Note the cave is not dark but ablaze with golden light, anchoring the theology of the incarnation of light as the Logos. The red hammock-like couch in which the Theotokos reclines is a reference to the temple veil. Photo © Monica René ©Claremont Graduate University !8 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 13. Flight into Egypt of the Holy Family, 1990, Holy Virgin Coptic Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, California. The Holy Family is depicted in a typically Egyptian landscape with a characteristic domed village, Pharaonic temple, and obelisk. In the lower register the four fish in the River Nile symbolize the four gospels. Text reads: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” Photo courtesy hvla forgotten menological and hagiographical themes formed by centuries of Coptic history.

He used the principles of sacred geometry to great effect in creating harmonious and uncluttered designs. Sacred characters and narratives are void of the popular sentimentality common to other forms of contemporary iconography.

Dr. Fanous never wrote a formal set of tenets about his work, except what can be gleaned from two unpublished papers he gave. He explained his philosophy and theory at tutorials, interviews and private conversations. In the paper given at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence on the occasion of his honorary induction as an academician in 1975, he stated: “[O]ut of this understanding, there ought to exist a Contemporary Coptic Art that stems from the deep roots extended in the depths of time, which should express the concept of a movement in Contemporary art…but connected with the original Egyptian tradition in the fields of form, thought, and philosophy.” He advocated the use of traditional materials and time-proven techniques that should in theory make icons last ad infinitum in the right climate and conditions. But primarily his fundamental principle was to embrace the profound influence 14. Isaac Fanous and Fr. Antonious Henein, Los Angeles, 1991. Photo ©Monica René ©Claremont Graduate University !9 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 15. Sacrifice of Isaac, 1990. 16. Ladder of Jacob, 1993.

Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, California. Photo courtesy hvla Los Angeles, California. Photo courtesy hvla Christianity had on Egyptian civilization, while recognizing Egypt’s influence upon Christianity. Professor Fanous’ legacy is vast, spanning over 50 years of continuous artistic activity. His headquarters at the ics studio became the epicenter of the Coptic artistic renaissance, peaking in the 1980s and 90s. During these busy years, his students provided much needed assistance in the preparation of panels, gilding large areas and other minor tasks. This helped him fulfill the growing demand for his work at home and abroad.

Many Coptic students attended the ics Art Department in the 1980s and 90s. They were primarily local, apart from three foreign students – Jackie Ascott (PhD ics Cairo), Stéphane René (PhD rca London), and this writer, (MA Coptology ics Cairo) who focused on iconology, as Professor Fanous’ only research student. He considered Iconology vital to the proper understanding and function of Sacred Iconography.

©Claremont Graduate University !10 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 17. Last Supper, 1996. St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, California. Photo courtesy Andrew Hanna Professor Fanous was invited to London to sit on the examination panel for Stéphane René’s PhD viva voce in 1990. This was the first time, since its foundation in 1837, that the Royal College of Art awarded a PhD in Christian Art, let alone Coptic Iconography in its contemporary form. This reaffirmed Fanous’ importance as an internationally recognized master. Among his Egyptian students who continue to practice iconography today are Gamal Ramzy (Egypt), Ashraf Fayek (Australia), Guirguis Tamer Boktor (usa), and Aymen Adib Shafik (Egypt) (endnote 2).

Professor Fanous did not discriminate by gender, race, or denomination, as to whom he taught in these painting classes, but rather on the individual’s attitude, mindset. and what he termed “spirit.” He maintained that a student’s approach to iconography was more important than artistic talent.

Among the students who attended his Friday classes were a small group of nuns from the convent of St. Damiana, who came as part of Patriarch shenouda iii’s initiative attempting a return of iconography to the Coptic monastic environment.

Professor Fanous would create the full-size designs for mosaics, choose the color schemes, and then meticulously supervised the process of their production, much as the conductor of an orchestra. Some of these magnificent pieces were made by the patient hands of the nuns, whose contemplative disposition suited the slow and painstaking medium.

The Coptic master’s spiritual outlook was reflected in his lifestyle. Each day he would walk from his home to his studio, situated in the enclosure of Anba Rueiss’ monastery complex – which includes St. Mark’s Cathedral, the Patriarchal Palace, the Coptic Orthodox seminary, and the Institute of Coptic Studies. His working hours were 10am to 2pm, with a lunch break taken at home, and then returning to the studio from 5pm to 9pm. He kept this daily routine for more than 50 years, apart from Sundays and time spent working abroad. He considered this a precious discipline that kept him focused and a form of service to God and His church. Individuals and church councils who had the farsightedness to commission his work must also be remembered, as without them there would be no Fanoussian legacy to speak of.

Neo-Coptic iconography is not to everyone’s liking, however. As a reminder, Dr. Isaac often mentioned that “the icons carry meaning beyond the grasp of that which solicits the eyes” (rene 2016: 1647). Icons go beyond the accepted aesthetic of fine art. Fanous termed this ©Claremont Graduate University !11 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 the “aesthetic of asceticism,” which represents a transfigured reality that is beyond time and space or the physical senses and passions. They confront the viewer from the heavenly kingdom, where those who drank the water of eternal life abide forever. Icons nourish those who crave righteousness and evoke unending thoughts of forgiveness, repentance, and intercession.

Icons offer daily lessons to those who pray, teach, and live by the Christian faith. They possess a spiritual sensitivity that cannot be fully expressed in mere words.

Based firmly in a cultural expression unique to Egypt, the Fanoussian style uses a universal language in form and content. With their uncluttered and harmonious compositions formulated through pure geometry, Neo-Photo © Monica René Coptic icons emanate joy and blessedness and touch those who believe in the mysteries of Christ’s revelation.

They express a faith whose spirituality is intoxicated with immortality – an attribute clearly inherited from Ancient Egypt. With Isaac Fanous’ passing in 2007, his work remains to be evaluated to ensure the preservation and 18. Geometric analysis of the Flight into Egypt by Stéphane René transmission of his legacy. The master understood this, as he stated: “I came to establish a strong foundation…others A hypothetical diagram/grid is applied over this must build on it” (rene 2016: 1647).

icon of the Flight to reveal the otherwise unseen geometric basis of the design. The Holy Family is placed within a central vesica piscis. The vesica is

notes

obtained by interlocking twin circles. It is a very ancient symbolic geometric figure that was 1. It is worth noting that 1400 years of Islamic rule did not eradicate the adopted in early Christian art and became Coptic painting tradition, but a mere 150 years of Western colonization associated with the Virgin Mary. Christ did. Professor Fanous was always rather skeptical of Western Coptic Pantocrator is always depicted in the midst of scholars who categorized Coptic art as “Byzantine,” citing the such a vesica piscis from around the 5th Century council of chalcedon in 451 as a marked severing from to the 13th or 14th Century in both East and West, Hellenistic culture and influence, followed by the further isolation after from Coptic Bawit to the Medieval Levant and the arab conquest of egypt in 641.

Romanesque Europe. Isaac Fanous revived this 2. This list of students is not exhaustive and is open to update. It quintessential Orthodox theme, as well as the however includes the most senior members from the early and symbolic geometry associated with it.

mid-1980s.

With special thanks to Dr. Stéphane René for layout of artwork and explanation of symbolism.

Vesica piscis ©Claremont Graduate University !12 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019 19. Virgin & Child, 1993. Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, California. Photo courtesy hvla ©Claremont Graduate University !13 Monica René: Fanous, Isaac 2 September 2019