Hussein Madi ( ar, حسين ماضي; 1938 – 17 January 2024) was a Lebanese painter, sculptor and printmaker. He studied painting, sculpture and printing in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

(at the

Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts The Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA; french: Académie libanaise des Beaux-Arts; ar, الأكاديمية اللبنانية للفنون الجميلة) was originally a stand-alone Lebanese institute, now one of the faculties at the Univer ...

) and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(at the Academia di Belle Arti). He lived in these two cities between 1973 and 1986. In Rome, he did advanced research on Arabic cultural heritage and on Egypt. He went back to Lebanon in 1986 where he taught sculpture and engraving at the Institute of Fine Arts,

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU) (, ) is the only public university in Beirut, Lebanon. It is ranked #701–750 worldwide in terms of education. The creation of the Lebanese University was an idea first mentioned in the speech of the former Minist ...

and from 1958 to 1962, at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. He was exhibiting in Europe beginning in 1965. His art has been showcased at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

and Tokyo's Ueno Museum.

Life and work

Born in 1938 in Shebaa, South Lebanon, Madi's body of works is often said to relate to modern European artists like

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

and

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

as well as the abstract designs of Islamic art. Madi outlined a silhouette of woman on the entire surface of the canvas with quick strokes of his large brush. His paintings are often based on interplays between straight and curved lines. The features of his characters are those of the Oriental man clearly showing his cultural heritage. In their attitudes, two expressions are found: a static one which shows permanence in the face of the transitory, and the deep Oriental faith in immortality and eternal rest, and also a facial expression of cruel irony, playing the part of the mask in the Greek tragedy or an expression of suffering through stiff posture, like the loud outburst of a horrible cry, the terrible roar of the Assyrian lioness dragging along her crushed rump. This rending roar personifies the cry of Humanity. The Italian critic Joseph Silvaggi writes about Madi: "His drawings are filled with symbols and rich with artistic conventions in simplified forms; they are an enchanted script, a résumé of figurative art, the art of modern man." He died on 17 January 2024, at the age of 85."بيكاسو الشرق" حسين ماضي يودّع الحياة… أعماله خالدة الى الأبد (فيديو)

Awards

Madi won several prizes during his lifetime: the

Sursock Museum The Sursock Museum ( ar, قصر سرسق), which is officially known as the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum, is a modern art and contemporary art museum in Beirut, Lebanon. History In 1912, the wealthy and prominent Lebanese aristocrat Nicolas Ib ...

5th Salon Prize for Painting (1965–66), the 8th Salon's Prize for Sculpture offered by the Italian Cultural Centre in 1968/69 and the First Prize for Engraving, Citta di Lecce, Italy (1974). He was President of the Association of Lebanese Artists (1982, 1992).

Publications

*''Unexpected Trove , The Unseen Works of Hussein Madi , Rome 1964-1970'' (Dongola, 2019) *''A Boundless Life'' (Antoine, 2012) *''The Art of Madi'' (Saqi Books, 2005) *'' Hussein Madi'' (Galleria d'Arte Cavour, 1972) (Italian)

References

External links

Hussein Madi

ARTNET

Hussein Madi at Aida Cherfan fine art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madi, Hussein 1938 births 2024 deaths Lebanese painters Lebanese contemporary artists Artists from Beirut