“Mishwar” Maroun Tunb.. from Palestine to Lebanon

Five halls of “Dar El-Nimer for Art and Culture” in Beirut are the space for the retrospective exhibition, which includes the works of the Palestinian plastic artist Maroun Tanb (1911-1981) and his son Fouad, under the title: “Journey: An Artist’s Paths from Palestine to Lebanon. Dialogue between two generations: Maroun and Fouad Tanb.” It will continue until the thirteenth of May.

The exhibition is divided into four sections, each of which highlights a specific stage in the life of the plastic artists. In an attempt to read their artistic paths, and at which points they can meet, the second generation becomes an extension of the first; Or, on the other hand, the ability of the son’s generation to retain what distinguishes it from the father’s generation.

It is worth noting that Maroun Tanb was expelled from Palestine as a result of the Nakba in 1948, and his last exhibition in Haifa coincided with the beginning of a new chapter of colonial policies with the announcement of the partition decision; This prompted him to settle in Lebanon, which he took as a place for artistic production until his death in 1981.

The exhibition contains the first signatures executed by Tanab al-Ab in Palestine, where he was apprenticed by European painters, when the Arab plastic movement had not yet crystallized. In this aspect of the paintings, (silent) nature is mainly present, its scenes inspired by the environment of Palestine; Also, this part is characterized by a stylistic approach that combines impressionism as a general framework, and a kind of malleable abstraction that can be mixed lightly with that framework.

Portraits also have a share in the exhibition, as they constituted a basic space for work in the march of the father, who took his sons as a subject for it. Faces reveal color accuracy, even if it leads to several gradations, including a private portrait of his son Fouad, whose works are also present in the exhibition to form a dialogue duet with his father.

It is noteworthy that the exhibition witnesses parallel activities that are held on its sidelines. A guided tour will be organized, at eleven o’clock tomorrow morning, to explore the paintings, their meanings, and the way in which they were collected, and it will be presented by the operatic singer Fadia Tanb Al-Hajj, who is Maroun’s daughter.

At 4:00 pm next Friday, a symposium entitled “Art in Palestine” will be held, in which Alfred Tarazi and Saleh Barakat will participate. The film “Jaffa Umm Al Gharib” (2019), by Palestinian director Raed Dizdar, will be screened at 6:00 pm on the twenty-first of March.