4 to., 368 pp, French text, texts by Adonis, Shafic Abboud, Roger van Gindertael, Salah Stétié, Joseph Tarrab, Jean-Pierre Burgart, Gérard Khoury, Claude Lemand et Michèle Rodière, several citations by art critics at the end of the book taken from Chronologie d’une Oeuvre, paintings reproduced, profusely illustrated, hardback binding, cloth in coloured d/w, in cardboard illustrated slipcase, first book prepared and published by Claude Lemand, Paris, 2006.

Synopsis

Abboud the foremost Lebanese and Arab painter of the second half of the 20th century.
Shafic Abboud’s paintings are a manifesto for freedom, colour, light and joy, as well as being a permanent bridge between the art scenes of France and Lebanon and that of Lebanon and the Middle East. Both Lebanese and Parisian, Shafic Abboud was very attached to Lebanon, to its landscapes, its light and his own childhood memories.
He studied art at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Beirut, 1945–7. Among his professors were the Lebanese artist César Gemayel and the French painter Georges Cyr, two prominent figures in the foundation of the modern art movement in Lebanon. The latter introduced him to Western schools of art, and in 1947 Abboud travelled to Paris. He worked in the ateliers ofa number of artists such as Fernand Léger and André Lhote, and studied at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts. Having settled in Paris, he participated in the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles from 1955 and, in 1962, became a member of its committee. Abboud’s work has been exhibited on numerous occasions in France and Lebanon. He was awarded several prizes, including the Prix Victor Choquet, Paris, 1960, and the Prix du Salon d’Automne at the Sursock Museum, Lebanon, 1964.