Syrian Portrait Art: Up to 1950s
A journey through Syrian portraiture, from religious icons and the portrayal of prominent society figures to modern expressions of identity.
Painting in Syria has included depictions of the human face for centuries - contrary to the notion that portraying the face was forbidden by Islam. In fact, Syrian artists of all religious backgrounds created portraiture, as seen in the Christian icons of the monasteries around Damascus as well as the Armenian churches of Aleppo; in icons kept in private homes since before the eighteenth century,
Untitled (20th Century) by Tawfik TarekAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
as well as the portrayal of prominent Damascene society figures from the late 19th century onwards.
In the twentieth century, this art form in Syria progressed from traditional, commissioned portraits of the elite to paintings focused depicting everyday quotidian life – particularly the plight of those living in poverty and the everyday the life of worker.
Untitled (1957) by Nazem Al JaafariAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
These realist works were also joined by an expressionist movement examining larger questions around the human condition, and the search for artistic identity.
Madonna and Child (18th Century) by Georgeous Al MusawwirAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Georgeous Al Musawwir
This original 18th-century icon by Georgeous Al Musawwir, son of Yousef Al Musawwir, is part of the Atassi Foundation Collection.
This partially damaged icon depicts the Virgin and Child on a miniature wooden panel, with their sacred heads surrounded by a halo of engraved silver.
The style is simplistic and harks to the Gothic style – a visual language that continues in Syrian portraiture to this day.
Tawfik Tarek (1875-1940) is arguably one of the most prominent Syrian painter artists of the 20th century. In these two realist works, he focuses on the facial features of a woman who is likely to be his mother, as well as a man who, by his attire, appears to be a cleric.
Set Aysha (1935) by Tawfik TarekAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Tawfik Tarek (1875-1940)
By setting his figures against plain backgrounds, Tarek brings the viewer’s focus to each person’s clothing and facial expressions rather than their surroundings.
Untitled (1915) by Tawfik TarekAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
This may in part be due to the influence of the style of portraiture that was popular at the time to depict Ottoman sultans, as Tarek’s early art studies had been in Istanbul.
Untitled (20th Century) by Michael KurchehAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Michael Kurcheh (1900-1973)
Like Tawfik Tarek, Michael Kurcheh depicts his characters in a style close to realism, focusing on simple symbols to show their personal qualities and also leaving the background neutral.
Man Portrait (1971) by Michael KurchehAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Most of his works are executed in oils paint, whose properties allowed him to blend more realistic colour gradients.
In a style between realism and impressionism, a contemporary of Tarek and Kurcheh, Nassir Chaura (1920-1992) painted these two portraits. They were executed while he was studying art in Egypt between 1942 and 1947 before returning to Syria and engaging in more daring experiments.
Untitled (20th Century) by Nassir ChauraAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Like French realists, Chaura depicts the characters simply and in ordinary clothes, going about their daily lives.
Untitled (1954) by Nazem Al JaafariAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Nazem Al Jaafari (1918-2015)
Like Nassir Chaura, Nazem Al Jaafari was also influenced by Impressionism. This portrait depicts an elegantly seated woman adorned with earrings of traditional Damascene silver designs.
He takes care in rendering her facial features, hair, and hands, while he smooths the dress with soft touches, and creates differentiation in the background through more spontaneous brushstrokes.
Untitled (1950) by Adham IsmailAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Adham Ismail (1922-1963)
Adham Ismail believed in the necessity of innovation and tried to search for a unique artistic identity. Ismail composed this portrait of a girl in a style unique to him, which he had been experimenting with in several paintings.
In this painting, Ismail has simplified the figure into brilliantly intersecting color planes where even small areas of color play an important role, and the face is surrounded by floral motifs with a background suggesting a forest.
Untitled (1953) by Assad ZoukariAtassi Foundation for Art and Culture
Asaad Zoukari (1930-2020)
In this work, Asaad Zoukari depicts a portrait of a nude woman whose body is partially hidden behind a vase and a table.
On her face, reminiscent of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, a shaft of light illuminates the side of the torso and gives volume to the face and reclining hand.
In warm, earthy colors, the elements of the painting blend, uniting the torso with the still life.
All the artworks featured in this story are part of the Atassi Foundation collection.
Captions' credits © Atassi Foundation
The Original text was written in Arabic by artist and researcher Nour Asalia
Translated into English and read by Reham Kannout Alrefaei
English version edited by Anna Wallace Thompson
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