Nicole Malhamé Harfouche

Nicole Malhamé Harfouche

Nicole Joseph Malhamé Harfouche is a Lebanese artist, academic and critic who was born in Beirut. She studied at Nazareth Ladies’ College and then at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA), where she gained qualifications in both the Visual Arts and Decorative Arts.

Her work has featured in several group exhibitions, organised by galleries and national initiatives, in Lebanon at abroad. She has participated in a number of high-profile collectives nationally and abroad, including the Salon d’Automne and Salon du Printemps in Lebanon and the Grand Palais Salon d’Automne, Paris, on several occasions, which led to her being appointed a permanent associate member. Other collectives featuring her work include events in Greece, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Abu Dhabi. 

Nicole Malhamé Harfouche has also represented Lebanon at a number of international biennials, including the Sharjah Biennale, where she was awarded a medal, and the Sao Paulo Biennale in Brazil.

In addition, her art has been the subject of many solo exhibitions over the decades, notably in popular venues in Lebanon. These include the French Cultural Centre, Dar el Fan, Hotel St Georges, Epreuve d’Artiste Gallery and the Békhazi Gallery.

Malhamé Harfouche has been referenced extensively, with her work featured in key publications, including: ‘Women Artists in Lebanon’, a study by Cesar Nasif, Lebanese University, 1995; ‘100 Years of Artistic Creation in Lebanon’, by Joseph Tarrab, Dar An-Nahar, 2010; and three studies by Charbel Dagher, University of Balamand, published between 2002 and 2004, among others.

The natural world is a favourite topic for the artist, with both flora and fauna depicted in uplifting, vibrant colours. The pieces have a dynamic quality to them, with leaves, flowers and other verdure given vigour and rhythmic movement through the use of sharp delineation, in a selection of joyful, accessible works. In other abstract pieces, Malhamé Harfouche’s hallmark expansive palette is used to portray intriguing organic shapes, seemingly extending across the canvas, borderless, integrating and overlapping, melded through shading, while light colours lend a luminous quality and ethereal feel. Her oeuvre also encompasses figurative pieces - sensual, mystical characters -lightly silhouetted, against subtle, suggested backdrops.

Nicole Malhamé Harfouche has long been a leading figure on the Lebanese art scene, having held several prestigious roles in numerous organisations and educational institutions, while also receiving recognition for her services to art and education with prestigious honorary distinctions.

She has been a longstanding member of the Lebanese Association of Visual Artists, taking on the role of Vice-President for several years, and was also a member of the Board of Directors of Dar El Fan, assuming the post of President. In the academic field she held the positions of Director of the School of Visual Arts and Head of Cultural and External Relations at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts, ALBA, University of Balamand, before being appointed Advisor to the Dean in 2016. 

She is the recipient of several accolades, including the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters and Officer of the Order of French Academic Palms awards, together with a number of Medals of Honor. Nicole Joseph Malhamé Harfouche is also a longstanding art critic for Revue du Liban.