Maria Arida

Maria Arida (b. 1967) is a prize-winning Lebanese artist, fashion designer and stylist who was born in Beirut. 

The family fled Lebanon during the civil war, when Arida was a child, and settled in Paris. Arida grew up in the city and studied there, attending the École Supérieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode (ESMOD). She won a competition at the school and graduated in 1990.

Arida initially worked as a fashion designer and stylist, but was increasingly drawn to the field of painting. The French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne was, and remains, a key source of inspiration for Arida, igniting a fascination with colour and shapes that she loves to explore. 

Arida’s subjects are rooted in Mother Nature, ranging from sumptuous fruits and glorious flowers in full bloom found in her village, to birds in song or, as she describes them, talking to us, completed in mixed media or oils, on large-scale canvases. Pears in an appetising green, tinged with purple, and ripe-red apples hang low on tree branches, succulent and ready to be picked, while lush peonies and roses, with standout, detailed petal markings, are brought to life in vibrant shades of pink and soft, mellow yellow, set against rich-green leaves and verdure. Hallmark, sweeping brushstrokes and fluid backgrounds give Arida’s compositions an unmistakable energy and dynamism.

Arida’s work was displayed at a solo exhibition at Mission Art, Beirut in 2022. In the same year, she participated in a group show, along with other painters, sculptors and ceramicists, titled ‘Haut en Bleu’, at Les Plumes Galerie Elsie Braidi, Beirut.

In early 2023, Arida also took part in a group show at Urbanist Art Gallery in Dubai titled ‘Spring in January’, at which floral themes were suitably to the fore. Commenting on the paintings by Arida on show there, the art historian and journalist Maie El-Hage said: “Maria Arida’s paintings are large-scale depictions of flowers and floral patterns, each with its own range of colour palette. Of the paintings’ colours, some are bold while others mellow. The variety in the approach is refreshing, and each work defines a world of its own.”

Arida’s work has also been displayed in other shows and projects, including Beirut Art Discovery, a collective exhibition of paintings, sculptures and photography by Lebanese artists, held at the Emmanuel Paul Guiragossian Museum in Beirut, in 2015.