Nizar Daher

Nizar Daher (b. 1951) is a renowned, award-winning Lebanese artist and art educator from Kfar Dan, Beqaa region. He studied at the Repin Institute, St Petersburg, in the Soviet Union, obtaining his Master’s in Painting and Drawing from there in 1983. Daher then also gained a Ph.D in Art Sciences from the same institution in 1987. 

Described as a second-generation expressionist artist, Daher is known for his rural landscapes and village scenes, which often feature mesmerising skylines, especially daybreaks, created in a glorious palette of oils. Masterfully blended and produced with expressive brushwork and textured paint, these hallmark compositions prompted the publication ‘L’Orient le Jour’ to give Daher the title ‘Magician of Colours’.

Lebanon’s natural beauty is a focal point of Daher’s work, from the snow-capped mountains and hardened valleys of winter to the verdant rolling hills of spring, and the country’s famous cedars. He also explored the destruction and devastation caused by Lebanon’s civil war in earlier paintings, some of which took the form of sombre scenes in black and white, while others featured cityscapes with backdrops of fiery-red explosions and flames. 

At this time, Daher also became known for using Lebanese sand as a medium, which he mixed with water to create paintings. He continued this practice in his formative years, taking it with him when he travelled to Russia for his studies.

Daher’s work can be found in the permanent collections of numerous renowned institutions, including: The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg; National Art Museum of China; Beijing Orient Museum; Moscow Museum of Modern Art; Kuwait Museum, Ministry of Culture; Tunisia National Museum; Amman Library of the President of the Russian Federal Union; The Kremlin; Moscow Mikhailovsky Museum; Russia Governmental Museum of the President, Republic of Kazakhstan, Museum of the Lebanese University; and the Beirut Collection of Pope Francis at the Vatican. 

Daher has also shown his work in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Recent individual exhibitions include a solo show at Maya Art Space, Beirut, held in December 2024, titled ‘Illuminations’. Earlier solo shows include events in: Al Quarine Festival, Kuwait (2007); Mtain, Mount Lebanon (2007); Discovery Planet Hall, Beirut (2006); Russian Cultural Center, Beirut (2004); Rafael Hall, Academy of Arts, St Petersburg (2003); Rochane Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2003); Graffiti Gallery, Chtaura, Lebanon (2002); and the Arab Foundation of Culture and Arts, Beirut (2002).

Daher’s work has also featured on commemorative postal stamps for national and international mail in projects organised by the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications. It can also be found in publications that include a biography and retrospective, titled ‘Parcours en Couleurs’, produced by the Lebanese University.

Over the years, Daher has also been a major contributor to art education, working as a professor at the Lebanese University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, where he also became Dean. Since 2017, he has also held the position of President of the Lebanese Painters Syndicate and Cultural Advisor to the Minister of Culture. Daher is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary certificates, including the Medal of Merit of the President of the Republic of Lebanon for his contribution to the Arts (Painting), which he was awarded in 2004.

In January 2025, Daher’s painting ‘Abd El-Habdain’ was chosen to feature as the background in the official portrait of the President of the Lebanese Republic, Colonel Joseph Aoun, which is now based in official institutions and Lebanese embassies worldwide.