Khalil Rayyan was born in the village of Damun, in Akko district, Occupied Palestine, in 1946. After months of displacement with his family, due to the Palestinian Nakba, they settled in the city of Tamra, a few kilometers away from his birthplace, the land of his ancestors, and their fields were within his sight.

He first studied art in 1964, at Beit Al Karma in Haifa, then in 1967, he moved to Jerusalem to further his studies at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Rayyan held the position of lecturer in the Department of Sculpture at the same institution for three years.

A painter and a sculptor, the artist, depicts the life around him and the Palestinian environment; his works tell the stories of the land, trees, life, women, and motherhood.

In a single painting, Rayyan could combine realistic, abstract, and impressionist schools using the bright and optimistic colors of his homeland. His semi-abstract landscapes oil paintings stemmed away from the boundaries of the accurate representation.

Was it the symbolic olive tree, a landscape, or women in different poses, the Palestinian issue is always intensely present in Khalil Rayyan’s creations.

Rayyan believes in art education: he contributed to the training of many young artists in his city, Tamra. Khalil Rayyan still works in his studio in Tamra and participates actively in the art life in Palestine.

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