Moustafa Farroukh
Moustafa Farroukh was a Lebanese artist who studied under Habib Serour and at the Regia Accademia di Belle Arti denominati di San Luca in Rome before continuing his studies in Paris under Paul Emile Chabas and Jean Louis Forain. Upon his return to Beirut, he established a permanent exhibition of his work in his studio and became a fixture in the Beiruti art scene. Farroukh’s work exemplifies the modernist trends of the French mandate period in Lebanon, exploring pastoral and humanistic subject matter and playing with light and medium specificity. His use of blunt hastened brushstrokes and gestural figuration imbued his paintings with organic warmth and emphasized the hand of the artist. Farroukh helped bring the nude tradition to Lebanon and often engaged with nationalist symbols and narratives in his work. He passed away in 1957, leaving behind a legacy that influenced several artists that came after him.
