Lady Liberty of 1953 to 1962?

Peter "Charlie" Attie Besharo, Lady Liberty of 1953 to 1962?, ca. 1960, acrylic and metallic paint, varnish, and pencil on paperboard, 22 ⁵⁄₈ x 28 ¹⁄₂ in. (57.5 x 72.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.100

Artwork Details

Title: Lady Liberty of 1953 to 1962?
Artist: Peter "Charlie" Attie Besharo
Date: ca. 1960
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 22 ⁵⁄₈ x 28 ¹⁄₂ in. (57.5 x 72.5 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums: pencil
acrylic
Mediums Description: acrylic and metallic paint, varnish, and pencil on paperboard
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Allegory — civic — liberty
Figure female
Object Number: 1986.65.100
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.100

Artwork Description

Peter "Charlie" Attie Besharo made paintings that combine his interests in space travel, alien and supernatural life forms, and futuristic intergalactic battles. Besharo immigrated to the United States in 1912 as a teenager from the Mount Lebanon area of Syria, possibly to escape military conscription under the Ottoman Empire. Although he was a devout Catholic, being one of the only Arabs in his adopted hometown of Leechburg, Pennsylvania, made it difficult for Besharo to preserve his native Syrian identity as he assimilated into a new culture. While his paintings are individually hard to decipher, collectively they convey this struggle. His images often contrast traditions from his youth--such as the eye-shaped amulet meant to protect against the curse of the evil eye--with technological advances of the 1950s, like atomic weaponry and jet-fueled travel.