Michel Basbous

Michel Basbous (1921 - 1981)  was a highly influential, award-winning Lebanese sculptor who was born in the village of Rachana. Recognised as a pioneer in his field, he studied at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts between 1945 and 1949, one of the first students to attend and graduate from the institution. 

Having gained a scholarship from the Lebanese government, Basbous travelled to Paris to further his studies, enrolling first at the Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts and afterwards at the Grande Ecole de la Chaumiere, where he studied under the Russian artist Ossip Zadkine.

Back in Lebanon and after a spell in Beirut, Basbous returned to Rachana, where he began working in what would become a transformative way for the location. “As I did not have a workshop in the village, I placed my works on the side of the road and started working in the open air,” he is quoted as saying.

This move marked the beginning of Rachana’s metamorphosis into an artistic, cultural centre, complete with both an open-air museum and indoor space for exhibitions, symposia, theatre and musical performances, among others. The indoor and outdoor multi-disciplinary artistic space, continued as a project after his death by his brothers and fellow sculptors Alfred and Youssef, still thrives today, overseen by the family and awarded UNESCO recognition. 

Michel Basbous broke new ground by introducing modern abstraction in sculpture into Lebanon at a time when classical works continued to dominate. Much of his inspiration was rooted in Lebanon’s nature and landscape, including its rock formations, the stalactites in grottos and majestic evergreen trees dotted across the mountains.  His art, which spans abstract pieces to figurative work, often evokes the Lebanese landscapes, from the curves of the mountains to the dips of the valleys, complete with intricately carved chisel marks.

Michel Basbous’s sculptures are broad in style and size, ranging from monumental pieces carved in stone to other smaller-scale works made from marble, wood, glass or metal. A forward-thinker, Basbous also used recycled materials or readymade objects, such as car radiators, in his work. 

Basbous worked at the American University of Beirut as a professor during his career. He was highly influential among his contemporaries and the next generation of sculptors, acting as a key driver in shaping the course of sculptural expression in Lebanon.

His work has been exhibited extensively, both in Lebanon and abroad. It continues to be in demand today, having been shown recently in collectives that include ‘Beirut and the Golden Sixties: A Manifesto of Fragility’ at Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, France and Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar (2022/2023). Basbous’s artworks can be found in many prestigious museum collections, including: the Museum of Modern Art, Paris; the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, UK; the British Museum, London; the Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan; the Zadkine Museum in Paris; and the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, among others. His sculptures are also found in high-profile official buildings in Lebanon and Paris, and private collections worldwide.

Michel Basbous has been recognised, both for his work and the contribution he made to the discipline of sculpture. He was awarded the President of the Republic Prize for Sculpture in 1956 and received the Sursock Museum Prize for Sculpture in its launch year, 1968.