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Lebanese Painter Says Christie's Withdrawal of His Works from Auction is 'Discrimination'

Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki - Reuters
Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki - Reuters
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Lebanese Painter Says Christie's Withdrawal of His Works from Auction is 'Discrimination'

Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki - Reuters
Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki - Reuters

Christie's auction house has removed two paintings by Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki from its London sale this week following complaints, according to emails seen by Reuters, with the artist criticizing the decision as a form of "discrimination".

"Al Moulatham", which stands 2 meters tall, features a figure wrapped in a red-and-white scarf resembling a keffiyeh, the headscarf worn commonly around the Middle East.

"Anonymous", part of a series by Baalbaki on protesters around the Arab world, depicts a figure in a gas mask and a red bandana with the Arabic word for "revolutionaries" written on it.

Both are no longer available on the website for Christie's auction on modern and contemporary Middle Eastern Art. A third piece by Baalbaki, depicting red flags seemingly on fire, remains on sale.

A Christie's spokesperson said: "Decisions relating to sales remain confidential between Christie's and our consignors."

An email dated Oct. 30 from Christie's and seen by Reuters said the "decision to remove" the two pieces was "based on complaints", without specifying what the complaints were or who they were from.

The email said it was "normal policy" to remove pieces "if a work receives multiple complaints" in order to avoid "damaging press".

Baalbaki, 48, said he suspected a link between the decision and the unfolding war between Israel and Hamas. Israeli bombardment has killed more than 10,000 people in Gaza since Oct. 7.

"Unfortunately, it's beyond sad that it would get to this point of violating freedom of expression – that there would clearly be this type of racial discrimination between one community and another," he told Reuters at his Beirut home.

Baalbaki drew comparisons with a move last month to postpone an award ceremony in Frankfurt for a Palestinian author. It said it had decided to hold the award ceremony at a different time in a "less politically charged atmosphere".

"When we start to mess with freedom of expression in art, in novels, in anything that has cultural significance, it snowballs fast," Baalbaki said.

"People feel it's their image that's been withdrawn ..."

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Study: Deep Ocean Marine Heatwaves May be Under-reported

Waves hit the rocks on the shores of the Pacific Ocean at Rapa Nui national park area managed by the Mau Henua native community at Easter Island, Chile October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado
Waves hit the rocks on the shores of the Pacific Ocean at Rapa Nui national park area managed by the Mau Henua native community at Easter Island, Chile October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado
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Study: Deep Ocean Marine Heatwaves May be Under-reported

Waves hit the rocks on the shores of the Pacific Ocean at Rapa Nui national park area managed by the Mau Henua native community at Easter Island, Chile October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado
Waves hit the rocks on the shores of the Pacific Ocean at Rapa Nui national park area managed by the Mau Henua native community at Easter Island, Chile October 1, 2024. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

Heatwaves deep in oceans may be "significantly under-reported", highlighting an area of marine warming that has been largely overlooked, a joint study by Australia's national science agency (CISRO) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found.
The study, which was published on Thursday in the Nature scientific journal, found that 80% of marine heatwaves below 100 meters are independent of surface events, Reuters reported.
It said researchers used observational data from more than two million ocean temperature profiles from global oceans.
"These findings deepen our understanding of the frequency and intensity of extreme temperature events under the ocean surface and possible implications," CISRO's Ming Feng said.
Marine heatwaves are prolonged temperature events that can cause severe damage to marine habitats, such as impacts to coral reefs and species displacement, the study said.
These events are becoming more common due to global warming, causing "catastrophic ecological and socioeconomic impacts," it said.
The majority of previous studies on marine heatwaves have focused on surface signals based on widely available satellite observations of sea-surface temperature.
The finding of separate, deeper warming was particularly worrying, the research found, because it affects the habitat of so many creatures and what they feed on.
"Extreme temperature events below the sea surface are of greater ecological concern because they affect the habitat of most marine primary producers and consumers," it said.
The research also highlighted the influence of ocean currents, in particular eddies, on marine heatwaves, indicating they are a major driver of subsurface events, CISRO said.
Ocean eddies can impact acidification, oxygen levels and nutrient concentrations in the ocean.
Understanding the drivers of subsurface marine heatwaves such as eddies will help to improve assessment of these events in a warming climate and help to predict them in future, it said.