Rafic Charaf

Rafic Charaf was born in Baalbek, Lebanon, in 1932. Hailing from a family of blacksmiths of modest means, he received scholarships to attend the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid from 1955 to 1957. He then attended the Pietro Vanucci Academy in Perugia, Italy in 1960 before returning to Beirut. His work was exhibited annually at the Hotel Carlton and at the annual Salon du Printemps at the UNESCO Palace and the Salon d’Automne at the Sursock Museum during the long 1960s. He also held exhibitions at Contact Art Gallery (1973, 1975). Charaf taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Lebanese University from 1965 to 1982 and was the dean of the faculty from 1982 to 1987. He was the recipient of the Prix de l’Île-de-France in 1963 and the 1st prize of the Salon du Printemps in 1959. His work has been collected by public and private institutions in Lebanon and by the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah.