Aref El Rayess

Aref El-Rayess was born in Aley, Mount Lebanon in 1928. Initially a self-taught artist, his first exhibition was held at the American University of Beirut in 1948. He then travelled between Senegal and Paris. He befriended the mime artist Marcel Marceau who left an enduring mark on his practice, and trained in the studios of Fernand Léger, André Lhôte and Ossip Zadkine while also studying at L’Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In 1957, he returned to Lebanon where he established a studio for tapestry production with Roger Caron. He then received a scholarship from the Lebanese government to study in Italy. He spent the following four years between Florence, Rome and Beirut, exhibiting his work in all three cities in venues such as Galerie Alecco Saab and Sursock Museum in Beirut, Galleria Numero in Florence and Palazzio di espoziosione in Rome. From 1965 to 1967, he lived and worked in New York, Mexico City, and London. He returned to Beirut following the Six-Day War in 1967 and co-founded the Fine Arts Department at the Lebanese University and Dar el-Fan (The House of Art and Culture). In addition to painting, he illustrated books and designed theatre sets. He also served as president of the Lebanese Artists Association of Painters and Sculptors for years. He travelled widely in the global south, participating in the al-Wasiti festival in Baghdad, São Paulo Bienial (1967, 1971, 1973) and the Biennial de Paris (1959) and the International Art Exhibition in Solidarity with Palestine (1978). Starting in the late 1970s, he worked in Saudi Arabia where he remained until 1987 before returning to Beirut. He moved back to his home and studio in Aley, where he lived until his death in 2005. His work is included in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Algiers; the Sursock Museum, Beirut; Saradar Collection, Beirut; Centre Pompidou, Paris, in addition to numerous private collections worldwide.