The Sursock Museum ( ar, قصر سرسق), which is officially known as the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum, is a

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

museum 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 ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

History

In 1912, the wealthy and prominent Lebanese aristocrat Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock built the private villa that now houses the museum. He decreed in his will that the villa be transformed into a museum. When he died in 1952, he bequeathed the villa to the city of Beirut.Daratalfunun.org
The museum opened in 1961, directed by Amine Beyhum, with an exhibit of works of contemporary Lebanese artists, setting a precedent for cultural events in Beirut. Sursock house (1)

The Sursock Museum building exemplifies Lebanese architecture, with its

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

(specifically

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

) and Ottoman architectural influences. It is one of the few remaining villas from its epoch in Beirut. It is located in the historic

Rue Sursock Rue Sursock is a historic street in the Rmeil district of Beirut in Lebanon. Named after one of Beirut's most prominent families, the Sursock family, the street is home to many of Beirut's beautiful historic mansions that were built in the 18th a ...

in the

Rmeil Rmeil ( ar, الرميل) is one of the neighborhoods of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It is located near Ashrafieh, and Saifi. The neighborhood is known for its Greek Orthodox churches such as Saint Georges and Saint Nicolas. Cultural areas a ...

district of Beirut. The street is home to other mansions that were built in the 19th century by Beirut's most prominent families, such as the

Sursock The Sursock family (also spelled Sursuq) is a Greek Orthodox Christian family from Lebanon, and used to be one of the most important families of Beirut. Having originated in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire, the family has lived in Beir ...

s and the

Bustros The Bustros family is a prominent Lebanese Antiochian Greek Orthodox family. One of the “Seven Families”, it is one of the original Beirut families along with the descendants of Sursock, Fernaine, Dagher, Trad, Tueni and Gebeily families, who ...

es, even though this architectural heritage is threatened by developers and an almost-unregulated real estate market. More than a hundred exhibitions have been held at the museum, including displays of works by Lebanese and international artists. The museum's permanent collection includes modern art, Japanese

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

s and

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...

. The museum collection consists of over 800 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, and graphic arts from the 19th and 20th centuries. On August 4, 2020, the museum sustained significant damage and some of its artworks were destroyed as a result of an ammonium nitrate explosion.

Expansion

The museum was expanded with four new underground floors beneath the current garden, at a cost of US$12 million.Annahar.com
French architect

Jean-Michel Wilmotte Jean-Michel Wilmotte (born 1948 in Soissons) is a French architect. Biography Jean-Michel Wilmotte studied interior design at the Camondo school of interior design in Paris. Just two years after graduating, he founded his own agency in Paris in ...

and Lebanese architect Jacques Abou Khaled designed the expansion project. The project increased the museum's area from 1,500 square meters to 8,500 square meters and opened additional exhibition spaces, a research library, an auditorium, a restoration workshop, new storage spaces for the collection, as well as a store and restaurant. The museum reopened its doors on October 8, 2015.

Collection

The following is a list of Lebanese and international artists whose works are in the museum's permanent collection: * Chafic Abboud * Mouna Bassili Sehnaoui * Lotti Adaimi *

Willy Aractingi Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William (given name), William or Wilhelm (name), Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American ...

Anton Asfar Anton may refer to: People *Anton (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Anton (surname) Places *Anton Municipality, Bulgaria **Anton, Sofia Province, a village *Antón District, Panama **Antón, a town and capital of th ...

* Assadour *

Simone Baltaxé-Martayan Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * ''Simone'' (1926 fi ...

* Juman Beyazit *

Rafic Charaf Rafic Charaf (Baalbek, Lebanon, 1932 – Beirut 2003) was a Lebanese painter. He studied at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA and, in 1955, obtained a scholarship from the Spanish government and went at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes d ...

Saloua Raouda Choucair Saloua Raouda Choucair ( ar, سلوى روضة شقير; June 24, 1916 – January 26, 2017) was a Lebanon, Lebanese painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. Life and career Born in 1916 in Ain el Mreisa, Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, Choucair came ...

Kees van Dongen Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauvism, Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually ...

George Cyr George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

Paul Guiragossian Paul Guiragossian (; 1926 – November 20, 1993) was an Armenian Lebanese painter. Biography Born to Armenian parents, who were survivors of the Armenian genocide, Paul Guiragossian experienced the consequences of exile from a very tender age. ...

* Georges Guv * John Haddian * Zavan Haditzian * Halim Jurdak * Elie Kanaan * Viola Kassab *

Hussein Madi Hussein Madi ( ar, حسين ماضي; 1938 – 17 January 2024) was a Lebanese painter, sculptor and printmaker. He studied painting, sculpture and printing in Beirut (at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts) and Rome (at the Academia di Belle A ...

* Michel Elmir * Levon Moumjian *

Mounir Najm {{redirect, Monir, the village in Iran, Monir, Iran Muneer (also spelled Moneer, Monir, Mounir, or Muneyr, ar, منير, meaning ''illuminating'', ''lightsome'', ''bright'', ''luminous'') is a masculine Arabic given name, it may refer to: Given na ...

Omar Onsi Omar Onsi (1901–1969) ( ar, عمر أنسي); was a pioneer of modern painting in Lebanon and Lebanon's most renowned impressionist painter. He was born in Tallet Al-Khayat, Beirut in 1901. His father, Dr. Abdul Rahman El Ounsi, was a prominent ...

* Mohammad Rawas *

Aref Rayess Aref El Rayess (or Aref Rayess) (25 October 1928 – 27 January 2005) was a Lebanese painter and sculptor. Life Born in Beirut, Aref Rayess started his career as a self-taught artist exhibiting for the first time in 1948. He lived in Africa for ...

* Nadia Saikali * Mohamed Sakr * Stelio Scamanga *

Juliana Seraphim Juliana Seraphim (Arabic: جوليانا سيرافيم; born 1934 in Jaffa) is a Palestinian artist. Background Seraphim was born in Jaffa in 1934, and was among the first waves of displaced Palestinian refugees to move to Beirut, Lebanon in 19 ...

* H. Torrossian * Anita Toutikian * Sophie Yaramian * Khalil Zgaib * Alain Le Yaouanc

Exhibition history

*Les arts plastiques au service de l'architecture, 1969 *Art islamique, 1974 *Hommage à Jean Khalife, 1993 *

Rétrospective, 1997 *

Georges Schehadé Georges may refer to: Places *Georges River, New South Wales, Australia *Georges Quay (Dublin) *Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Other uses *Georges (name) * ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas * "Georges" (song), a 1977 ...

: poète des deux rives, 1905-1989, 1999 *

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

, 2000 *

Sergei Parajanov Sergei Parajanov, ka, სერგო ფარაჯანოვი, uk, Сергій Параджанов (January 9, 1924 – July 20, 1990) was an Armenian filmmaker. Parajanov is regarded by film critics, film historians and filmmakers t ...

, collages and drawings, 2000 *

Moustafa Farroukh Moustafa Farroukh ( ar, مصطفى فروخ; 1901 – 1957) was one of Lebanon's most prominent painters of the 20th century. During his famed career, Farroukh produced over 2000 paintings most of which were acquired by collectors both in Lebanon a ...

Rétrospective, 2003 *Regards sur Beyrouth, 160 ans d'images, 2015 *Danielle Genadry, The Fall, 2016 * Assadour, landscape in Motion, 2016 *

Ali Cherri Ali Cherri is a Lebanese artist working in video and installation. His varied practice focuses on documenting and presenting heritage and environment in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries. Early life and education Ali Cherri was born in ...

. A Taxonomy of Fallacies: The Life of Dead Objects, 2016 *Let's Talk About the Weather: Art and Ecology in a Time of Crisis, 2016 *

Susan Hiller Susan Hiller (March 7, 1940 – January 28, 2019) was an American-born artist who lived in London, United Kingdom. Her art practice included installation, video, photography, performance and writing. Early life and education Born in Tallah ...

Magic Lantern, 2016 *Adelita Husni-Bey: A Wave in the Well, 2016 *Fabrik, 2017 *Les mondes de Willy Aractingy, 2017 *Hrair Sarkissian Homesick, 2017 *Partitions et Couleurs : Hommage à Amine El Bacha, 2017 *Fruit of Sleep. Curated by Reem Fadda – Part of Act II program of Tamawuj,

Sharjah Biennial The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cul ...

13, 2017 *Monira Al Qadiri: The Craft, 2017 *Abed Al Kadiri, The Story of the Rubber Tree, 2018 *

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. Twombly is said to have influenced you ...

Photographs, 2018 *

Zad Moultaka Born in Lebanon in 1967 in the contemporary theatre world, Zad Moultaka is a composer and visual artist. He started playing the piano at the age of five and moved to Paris in 1984. In 1989, he won the First Prize at the Conservatoire National Super ...

: ŠamaŠ *Fleeting Exits, Curated by Marwan T. Assaf, 2018 *Past Disquiet, Curated by Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti, 2018 *

Gregory Buchakjian Gregory Buchakjian (born 1971, in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese photographer, filmmaker and art historian. He studied at the Paris-Sorbonne University. He is the director of the School of Visual Arts at Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA an ...

Abandoned Dwellings, Display of Systems, Curated by Karina El Helou, 2018 *Laure et Mazen : Correspondance(s), 2019 *La Fabrique des illusions: Collection Fouad Debbas et commentaires contemporains, 2019 *

Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...

, Archives of an Eternity, curated by Vali Mahlouji, 2019 *

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 ...

et la famille, 2019 *At the still point of the turning world, there is the dance. Curated by Carla Chammas and Rachel Dedman, 2019

References

External links