Marwan Kassab-Bachi, known as Marwan, was a Syrian artist based in Berlin. He was born in Syria and lived most of his life in Germany. In the late 1950s and early '60s, he worked in a post-Surrealist style with portraits of friends, poets, politicians, and himself, which he continued through the decade. Despite living in Germany, he often expressed views about human rights in Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. His portraits tended to be somber and desirous.