The monobrow in art: one of a kind

The monobrow in art is rare but noticeably appealing, for it is one of a kind. The unibrow or monobrow is the continuous formation of the eyebrow, such that it looks like one brow rather than two distinct brows.

Most people would be familiar with the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s self portraits in which she, unashamedly and proudly, depicts her monobrow. Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) had polio at the age of 6 and was involved in a bus accident at 15, leaving her with permanent pain and the amputation of her leg at the age of 46, a year before her death. Kahlo’s salvation was her art, mostly self-portraits from her sick bed or during her brief periods out of it. Of her 140+ paintings, 55 were self-portraits – most showing her monobrow.

In the Simon Janashia Gallery of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi is an exhibition called ‘New Life to the Oriental Collections.’ The oriental artwork collection had, over the years, accumulated bio-bacterial damage. The museum began a project of restoration within the framework of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) of the European Union (EU), administered by Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The restoration by anoxic treatment included cleaning, conducting an inventory, and inputting them into a digital format. Now these restored works – up to 180 pieces of Egyptian, Islamic, and Far Eastern artworks – are on display in a long-term exhibition.

Part of the ‘New Life to the Oriental Collections’ includes Islamic art – a large portion of them depicting attractive aristocratic young men and women with the monobrow. There are a series of large paintings by a ‘Shirin Painter’ in Iran during the period 1834-1848 of young women and men. These include ‘Woman with a Tambourine’ and ‘Dancer.’

The collection also includes the works of an unknown artist during the period 1798-1934, such as ‘Youth with Falcon’ – ‘Woman with Deer’ – ‘Dancer’ – ‘Sisters’ – and ‘Dancer with Tambourine.’

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).