Aref El Rayess

Aref El Rayess (or Aref Rayess) (25 October 1928 – 27 January 2005), was a Lebanese modernist painter and sculptor. His practice also included etching, tapestry and public sculpture.

Largely self-taught, Rayess first exhibited at the American University of Beirut in 1948 and later trained in Paris, including at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in the studios of Fernand Léger, André Lhote and Ossip Zadkine. His travels and periods of residence in West Africa, Europe, North America and the Gulf influenced a body of work that moved between abstraction, figuration and politically engaged subjects.

Work Aref El Rayess was a prolific artist, mainly known as a painter, he also practiced etching, sculpture and tapestry. One of his tapestries, The Signs of Cadmus, is part of the collection of the UNESCO Palace in Paris.

His work is widely based on the human being and its relationship to nature and history, stating that "Man is a unity that embodies both the means and the goals...".

In the 1960s his painting evolved around Man and the Third World and in the early 1970s, he unexpectedly presented an exhibition related to whorehouses off Martyrs' Square, Beirut.

With the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War, El Rayess was one of the artists who interpreted the tragic events in art. Staying in Algiers, he produced in 1976 a series of etchings entitled The Road to Peace. This work gave its name to an exhibition Saleh Barakat curated in 2009 at the Beirut Art Center, encompassing Lebanese visual arts between 1975 and 1991. Apart from the etching series, oil paintings depicting the horror of war were featured in the exhibition. In these troubled times, El Rayess showed political involvement in creating a poster commemorating the assassination of the Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt.

Aref El Rayess also developed a practice of abstract sculpture. He was commissioned monumental works for the city of Jeddah, including a piece named "Swords of God (Soyuf Allah)".

Auctions Paintings by El Rayess have appeared relatively infrequently at auction. In October 2007, Labyrinths of the Millenium was estimated at $30,000–$35,000 and sold for $37,000. One year later, H. T. M. (Human, Time and Machine) was estimated at $60,000–$80,000 and was sold for $62,500.

Publications

Most of the book can be found with his daughter Hala Aref El Rayess, and a few at "RectoVerso" a library dedicated to art in Lebanon.

2012 – http://www.beirutexhibitioncenter.com/exhibitions/art-lebanon

2004 – "Al Layl Al Tṭawīl Wa'al Kalimah" (The Long Night and The Word) OCLC Number: 64576609

2003 – "Al Ayyām Al Ramādīyah: Alwān, Aḥruf, Suwar" (The Gray Days: Colors, Letters, Pictures) Riad El Rayess Books –

2001 – A Dedication to his daughter "Hodourak Fi Ghiyab Al Thol" (Your presence in the absence of the shadow) Publishing house and ISBN not available.

2000 – "Matahat Jamila" (Beautiful Maze) Nawfal Publishing – ISBN not available.

1999 – A Selection of Interviews "Rehlah Dakhel al-Zat" (A journey within my self) Dar AlJadeed Publishing – ISBN not available.

1982 – One Hundred Years of Plastic Arts in Lebanon 1880–1980 Imprimerie Catholique sal, Araya, Lebanon – ISBN not available.

1976 – "Tarik al Salam" (The Road to Peace) Illustration of the 1975 War in Lebanon OCLC Number: 41596994

1972 – A Manifesto by Rayess "Maa' Man, Wa Dud Man" (With Who, and Against Whom) Publishing house and ISBN not available due to its contents.

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions Noir et Blanc – Temps et Homme d'Aref Rayess, Espace SD, Beirut, 2002 2001 – Chants du carré – Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon 1997 – Gallery World of Art, Beirut, Lebanon 1996 – Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon 1995 – Centre Culturel Français, Beirut, Lebanon 1993 – Hommage au petit prince, French Cultural Center, Beirut 1979 – Galerie Epreuve d'Artiste, Beirut, Lebanon 1978 – Exposition Caracas, Venezuela 1976 – Galerie Racim, Algeria 1975 – Gallery Le Point, Beirut, Lebanon 1973 – The Flowers of rue Al Moutanabbi, Galerie Contact, Beirut, Lebanon 1972 – Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon 1971 – Galerie Manoug, Beirut, Lebanon 1969/1970 – Dar El Fan, Beirut, Lebanon 1968 – L'Orient le Jour, Beirut, Lebanon 1967 – Gallery One, Beirut, Lebanon 1965 – Galerie Excelsior, Mexico 1964 – D'Arcy Gallery, New York 1964 – Galerie La Licorne, Beirut, Lebanon 1961/1963 – Galerie La Licorne, Beirut, Lebanon 1958/1961 Rome, Florence, Venise – Italy 1958 – Galerie Alecco Saab, Beirut, Lebanon 1957 – Italian Cultural Center, Beirut, Lebanon 1954 – Dakar, Senegal, Africa 1948 – American University of Beirut, West Hall, Lebanon

Group exhibitions Art from Lebanon, Beirut Exhibition Center, 2012

Collective exhibitions 1948 – Unesco, Lebanon 1955/1957 – Ministry of Education, Lebanon 1961/1966 – Sursock Museum, Lebanon 1960 – Biennale São Paulo, Brazil 1964 – New York World Fair, USA 1967 – Biennale Musée Rodin, Paris 1968 – International Exposition, New York 1974 −1ere Biennale des Artistes Arabes, Baghdad 1979 – Ministry of Tourism, Lebanon 1980 – Unesco, Lebanon

Private collections Musée du Ministère de L'Education Nationale, Lebanon Musée Sursock, Lebanon Musée d'Art Contemporain, Irak Musée d'Art Contemporain, Syrie Musée National, Algérie

Awards 1955 – Prix de l'Education Nationale Salon du Printemps 1957 – UNESCO Awards in the Salon du Printemps 1963 – Premier et Second prix du Concours de Ministère des travaux Publique pour le Palais de Justice (National 1st & 2nd Prize) 1965/1966 – Sursock Museum's awards for Sculpture & Painting in the Salon D'Automne 1966 – Premier prix et Deuxième prix du concours de Sculpture du comite d'embellissement de la cite Libanaise 1967 – First Prize at the Sursock Museum's Award for Painting in the Salon D'Automne 1982 – The Tarua Europe's Award in Rome Musée National, Kuwait Musée National Jordan Musee de Jeddah, Arabie Saoudite Musee de Tabouk, Arabie Saoudite Old Hundred Museum, New York, USA Roosevelt Museum, Philadelphia, USA Palais de L'UNESCO, Paris, France