Perhaps he was a mystic, or even a kind of prophet, I do not know and cannot argue that point. All I know is that I have always greatly admired his poetic work and his paintings as well, which he did hundreds of them. He was a phenomenon and with good reason.
His book The Prophet, which contains 26 prose poems was published in 1923. The poems are like sermons delivered by a wise man of a long ago and far away place. Since 1923 The Prophet has sold much more than nine million copies, and that is in the English language, American edition alone.
Gibran was born in Bisharri, Lebanon of a Maronite Catholic family in 1883. Kahlil was a poet, a writer, a painter and an essayist. He relocated, together with most of his family, to Boston. From 1904 to 1910 he lived in Paris, joining the avant-guarde artists and poets and enjoying the bohemian lifestyle common of the era. Broken Wings was his first book, published in 1912 after he had moved to New York. He lived in New York with his wife until the day he died in 1931. He was forty eight years of age.
A very popular quote from Kahlil comes from his book Sand and Foam of 1926: «Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other may reach you.» John Lennon sort of modified that phrase in the song «Julia«, (Half of what I say is meaningless/But I say it just to reach you, Julia – Lennon/McCartney). David Bowie also mentioned Gibran in «The Width Of a Circle«, from his album The Man Who Sold The World (1970), (So we asked a simple black bird, who was happy as can be/Well he laughed insane and quipped «KAHLIL GIBRAN» – David Bowie).
Here are some of his paintings…
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Hope you have enjoyed this special edition of Art History in One Minute and if you liked what you saw we would greatly appreciate hearing from you as well as your like. You can also find us on social media:
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Francisco’s/Bodo’s Artist Representative is «By Guloshka» (guloshka404@gmail.com) Instagram: @guloshka
CHEERS
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JaZzArt en València 
nice one
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Cheers bro!
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I enjoy Kahil Gibran’s writings. I did not know he was also a painter. Thank you for your excellent and informative, as always, share, Francisco. Well done!
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A lot of people did not know that he was also a visual artist, and he certainly was a good one and a rather prolific one at that. It is always a pleasure to feature great artists and I truly thank you for your support. I am glad you enjoyed it.
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You are most welcome, Francisco. Gracias.
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De nada Suzette. My pleasure.
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Thank you so much, Francesco, for the excellent tribute to Kahlil Gibran. I like his philosophy of life and many of his quotes.
Joanna
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Definitely an amazing artist and poet. So glad you liked it Joanna and thank you!
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Thank you, Francesco!
Joanna
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My pleasure Joanna!
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Thanks for sharing, I never heard of him until now!
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My pleasure. So good to know.
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Subtly powerful
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Absolutely!
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I think his art is a big factor in the reason Gibran still resonates with people today.
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So true. I quite agree. Thank you.
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In my book (ha! get it?) this was one poet who did NOT waste half his words trying to get the other half through ~ as unfortunate a modern literary penchant as it truly is among others.
I’ve stayed close to The Prophet all my life ~ I love that little book! Whatever its author said in quip afterward, the fact is that he worked on those 26 offerings for four long years, trying, he said, to make every single word as true and as polished as it could be. I don’t think he could possibly have done better, do you?
Gosh, I hope he was a prophet… It’ll be a better world.
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I quite agree Ana, I do not think he could have done better. Thanks so much!
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