Farid Aouad

Master of Lebanese Modernism, the late Farid Aouad remains distinguished by his exceptional technical talent. Despite the minimal colour palette, the current lot of an oil on canvas is dense and intense, with Aouad’s ability to illustrate extraordinary detail bringing his characters and the show to life. Born in the south of Lebanon, Aouad spent most of his life in Paris and is celebrated for his bar and nightlife scenes and representations of society. His early works of the 1950s were more abstract, denoting a period before he adapted to a more figurative style. 
The Paris Opera depiction is one of his most seminal paintings. Rarely painting with colour, Aouad often aimed to show that when in public places, people were nevertheless lonely and strangers to one another, an aspect beautifully revealed in the present scene across the faceless spectators. Through his free graphic style of painting, he also conveyed his own solitude. Sadly, his fame reached the level it deserved only after his passing, although Aouad’s merit and value are today certainly recognised and held in the highest esteem.