Fateh Al-Moudarres

Born Aleppo, Syria, 1922 (d.1999)

Al-Moudarres, a poet, novelist, painter and sculptor, is considered a leader of the Syrian modern art movement. After an early period of Realism and Surrealism, he went to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, 1954–60. He returned to Damascus, having developed a very personal style that he described as ‘surrealistic and figurative with a strong element of abstraction’. His subjects are varied, often inspired by ancient traditions, icon painting, symbols and mythology as well as contemporary politics with which, since 1967, he became increasingly preoccupied. Between 1969 and 1972 he pursued his education in Paris, studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He then returned to Syria where, as a professor at the College of Fine Arts (established 1959), University of Damascus, he trained and influenced generations of younger artists. Al-Moudarres had numerous exhibitions, including a retrospective at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, 1995–6.A number of his poems and short stories have been published and translated.