Fateh Moudarres

Born in Aleppo, Fateh Moudarres was a highly influential, prize-winning artist who became known as a pioneer of modernism across the region and a font of knowledge for other artists in his native Syria. 

He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and later continued his postgraduate studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. 

Moudarres’ work is known for the way in which he combined his own feelings and memories with deep-rooted local traditions and heritage. In particular, he highlighted the challenges faced by people living in rural parts of Syria, especially those working in agriculture. Created in a rich, earthy palette of colours, with thickly textured, sweeping brushstrokes, his rural landscapes often featured solid, square-shaped figures that are almost abstract in style. 

Toiling the land, these figures are sometimes only just perceptible, their silhouettes blending into their surroundings, in an indication of how intrinsically they are linked to their work. Even though their features are only just discernible, the hallmark wide-shaped faces of his subjects are brimming with palpable emotion, poignant, reflective and seemingly sorrowful at times. 

Other themes Moudarres later explored included the impact of regional conflicts and upheavals on the populace, prompted by the changing social and political backdrops of the time. He was also a renowned and much in-demand portrait painter.

Moudarres’ works have been acquired by highly prestigious institutions, including: the British Museum; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; the National Museum, Damascus; the Syrian Ministry of Culture; the Dummar Museum, Damascus; the Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut; the Jalanbo Collection; and the Ibrahimi Collection, Jordan. 

His work has featured in numerous exhibitions over the decades, including in solo and group shows worldwide. Among these, were several high-profile biennales, including events in Venice, Cairo, São Paulo, Brazil [where he won the Medal of Honor in 1963 and 1977], Alexandria and Seoul, alongside the New York International Art Fair. 

 Moudarres’ first solo show took place at the Liwa Club in Aleppo in 1950. In his lifetime, his work was exhibited regularly in solo shows in both Aleppo and Damascus, and in Beirut often at Gallery One. Other venues that showed his work include: Chicchi Gallery, Rome; Hessler Gallery in Munich; Lund Centre, Sweden; and the International Modern Art Gallery, Damascus. His work was also exhibited in personal exhibitions throughout the decades in Paris, including at a special exhibition at the Brigitte Shehadeh Gallery (1977),
New York, Washington, Montreal, Bonn and Stuttgart. 

His work was also spotlighted in a number of high-profile retrospectives, including events in Dubai (1997); Paris, at the Institut du Monde Arabe (1995); and Beirut (1996).  Recently, a high-profile solo exhibition of his work, titled ‘Fateh al-Moudarres: Colour, Extensity and Sense’ was held between 2018 and 2019 at Mathaf.

The many group shows he took part in include: ‘Damascus Exhibition’, Bulgarian Centre (1984); ‘Syrian Plastic Art Exhibition’, East Berlin (1983); ‘Syrian Arab Plastic Art Exhibition’, Paris (1983); ‘Arab-Syrian Exhibition’, Tunisia and Algeria (1982); ‘Syrian Arab Exhibition’, Sofia, Bulgaria (1982); ‘Grand Palace Exhibition for Syrian Arab Art’, Paris (1980); ‘Damascus Exhibition’, French Centre, Damascus (1980); ‘Exhibition of Syrian Arab Plastic Art’, Amman (1977); ‘Salute to Malzo’, Damascus (1970); ‘Syrian Arab Plastic Art Exhibition’, Kuwait (1970); ‘Exhibition of Arab Plastic Art’, Rabat, Morocco (1970); ‘Contemporary Arab Exhibition’, London (1967); ‘Syrian Arab Exhibition’, Tunisia (1967); ‘Syrian Exhibition’, Beirut, Moscow and Washington (1967); ‘Syrian Pavilion in the New York Exhibition’ (1964); and the ‘Exhibition of Arab Artists’, Rome (1957). 

Moudarres was the recipient of several awards, accolades and prizes over the decades. These included: State Appreciation Award for Arts – Jordan (1992); State Prize (1984); Golden Sail Award from the Fifth Kuwait Exhibition for Arab Plastic Artists (1977); Gold Medal of the Italian Senate (1962); First Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome (1960); First Prize from the Syrian Ministry of Education (1952); Merit Award from the International Exhibition at the University of Cleveland, Florida (1952); and Prize for the Third Exhibition of Plastic Arts at the National Museum, Damascus (1952); 

Moudarres was a founding member of the Union of Arab Plastic Artists and the Syndicate of Fine Arts in Syria, before becoming its president for more than a decade. He was also a well-known, award-winning writer of poetry, short stories and essays, philosopher and renowned professor, teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University and becoming Dean of the faculty. Moudarres continued painting until his death in Damascus in 1999.