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PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN

PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN, Lebanon (1926 - 1993)

Bio

Paul Guiragossian was born in 1926 in Jerusalem, Palestine, to Armenian parents survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Guiragossian later took Lebanon as his permanent home and received Lebanese...

Written by WAFA ROZ

Paul Guiragossian was born in 1926 in Jerusalem, Palestine, to Armenian parents survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Guiragossian later took Lebanon as his permanent home and received Lebanese citizenship. Forced into exile, his parents relocated from Iskenderun to Jerusalem, where both Paul and his younger brother Antoine were raised. Paul's father, a blind fiddler back then, was hardly present. His mother, Rahel, had to struggle to make ends meet. As a result, Paul remained in the custody of nuns at the Order of the Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul in Jerusalem; from age four till the age of seven[i]. Then, Paul lived at the orphanage of the Salesian priests and completed his formative education at Ratisbonne seminary of the Salesian community of St. Don Bosco, in Bethlehem.[ii]

Recognizing his remarkable talent, resident priests took Paul on as an apprentice in stained-glass making.[iii] Some sources state that he trained under icon-maker, Pietro Yagetti, and at a place called Studio Yarcon, most likely in Jaffa.[iv] What is certain is that in the mid-1930s, he became an apprentice at the studio of Italian painter Fernando Manetti. Also, during this period, he learned Arabic Calligraphy with a local Sheikh. [v]As the Zionist assault on Palestine escalated in 1947, the Guiragossian’s relocated to Lebanon. They first settled in Camp Trad in Burj Hammoud, a northern suburb of Beirut populated with Armenian refugees. Paul worked as an art instructor at several Armenian high schools in Beirut, where he met Juliette Hindian, who became his wife in 1952. Hindian was also an artist in her own right.

Guiragossian did not follow a conventional learning path. His early works granted him multiple scholarships. Based on his prized paintings shown in 1956 at the Salon d’Automne, Palais de L’Unesco in Beirut, the Italian cultural institute granted him a scholarship to study at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence from 1957 till 1958. Likewise, in 1962, he received a grant from the French government to study at Les Atelier Des Maîtres De L’Ecole De Paris for six months. That was three years after he had won a prize for La Vendeuse de Fleurs, 1958, oil on canvas painting, presented at the first edition of the Paris Biennale in 1959.

Since an early age, Guiragossian was an avid reader and inquisitive researcher. Surpassing cultural and geographical boundaries, he investigated art history from East to West. The stylized marble-carved Pharaonic facial features, the stillness of Sumerian statuettes, and the intricate details in both Japanese printmaking and miniatures of Islamic art equally thrilled Guiragossian. Renaissance masters such as Albrecht Dürer, Jan Van Eyke, and Raphael inspired him most. The famed Van Gogh, whom Guiragossian initially undervalued, later became his idol. About artists that had influenced him at distinct stages of his career, Guiragossian once said, " I admired Van Gogh greatly so that I would impersonate him. I would walk like him, dress like him, and paint nature and the poor like him…bit by bit I would rid myself of Van Gogh."[vi]

Indeed Guiragossian became taken with the living conditions of the poor. In his early works, he depicted the dingy slums of Burj Hammoud and translated the misery of its inhabitants. Using oil paint on Masonite or canvas, he painted poor people day-to-day. For instance, Misère, 1948, portrays a drained worker resting by the floor, while La Crise, 1948, shows a fatigued porter. Preparation du Dejeuner, 1951, features a man rolling up the dough for daily breakfast. In Au Marche, 1951, women amass in a pack at the public market. In this genre, human figures, painted in somber colors and often outlined in black, seem round and massive in form. They have big hands and hulky bare feet. In that, the artist highlights the harsh life they bore.

Guiragossian produced a rich corpus of portraitures, mainly during the period spanning between the late 1940s and mid-1950s. He painted his neighbors, relatives, old men, women, and children in his neighborhood. The most poignant of all is that of his elderly mother Rahel, 1948, executed with oil on Masonite. She sits round-shouldered dressed in black and worn-out. Sharp lines map her face mirroring that hardship. Using charcoal on paper, Guiragossian unearthed the smallest facial detail in a portrait, such as in Garabeth Kasparian, 1948. Besides, he could reveal bodily gestures and facial expressions in swift and quick squiggles, such as in a collection of drawings he made during 1950 and 1951 using pen on paper. This immediacy in gestural application is what later distinguishes Guiragossian’s style.

In Beirut's art scene, Guiragossian became a sought out artist and scenographer. A year after he had arrived in Lebanon, he befriended author and art critic Salah Stetie who opened up new horizons for the emerging artist. In the 1950s, Guiragossian met his life-long friend and theatre director, Jalal Khoury, at Café La Palette in Beirut. La Palette was an accessible space where artists and intellectuals gathered and where Guiragossian would later hold his first solo show. Guiragossian handled the stage-design of some of Khoury’s most prestigious theatre productions, such as The Vision of Simon Machard in 1964 and Jeha fil qoura al-amamiyyah in 1971. Moreover, he collaborated with playwright Oussama Al-Aref on his epic production, idrab el-haramieh, in 1970.[vii] Guiragossian created monumental quasi-figurative paintings to display as stage-backdrops. These backdrops were not merely aesthetic add-ons, but rather a complimentary visual to the productions’ political contents.

Guiragossian’s style straddled the line between figurative and abstract art. He took the human form as a central object of study and his personal experience as a source of inspiration. In the 1960s, he started depicting the human figure in an abstracted form. In doing so, he transformed a personal-local experience into a universal one. In his early abstract trials, the human form was fragmented. Guiragossian applied layers of paint in short, interrupted rectangular brushstrokes that steadily built up the details of the body. The final result looked very much like a mosaic best exemplified in Le Panier, 1962, oil on canvas painting of a woman, two girls, and a basket, tightly intertwined. Painted with striking complementary colors such as indigo-blue and orange, beside lemon-green, Le Panier has luminosity similar to that of stained glass. At this stage, his figures were still full; however, their facial features were utterly effaced. With time, nearing the 1970’s Guiragossian’s human figures became slender and elongated. Some mere abstract human depictions were painted with a single lengthy and broad brushstroke applied vertically onto the surface of a canvas, such as in Silence, c.1969. One could still see the negative space in-between his gestural slashes.

Through his career, Guiragossian revisited themes such as family, faith, despair, exile, and belonging. Still, the specter of the woman remained central to his oeuvre, and often represented as maternal and spiritual symbols. For example, as the Virgin Mary in Madonna and Child, c.1957, the reader in La Lecture, 1973, the friend in L’Amitié, 1973, the source of light in Beacon Over the City, 1977, and the mother in Le Centre Du Monde, 1983. Even more, the veiled woman archetype kept reminding us of the nuns he grew up with. In the aforementioned examples, Guiragossian applied a restricted color palette with either a matching background or a contrasting one. For instance, in Madonna & Child, the dominating orange against golden yellow radiates an intense light that resonates with early Byzantine icons.

In Guiragossian’s most celebrated paintings, erect figures congregate and huddle together, such as in La Lutte de l'Existence, 1988, painted during a period when violent confrontations blazed up in Beirut nearing the end of the Lebanese Civil War. In this painting and many others, Guiragossian's gathered figures resonate with Christ’s apostles' figurative representation, usually staged in a standing position in both Eastern Orthodox icons and old master’s paintings like Pietro Perugino’s fresco, Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter, 1482. However, Guiragossian evaded spatial depth or indication of place. Elaborating on the matter, Guiragossian once explained: “I let the figures float on a canvas, I don’t draw a land, I don’t draw a sky, so you don’t know where they are.” It is fair to assume that Guiragossian’s work was informed by the liturgical arts he was exposed to, namely Icons and Christian religious depictions, during his early years in the Salesian churches, in Palestine. Guiragossian’s canvases accumulated massive impasto layers of paint always applied in swift gestural brush strokes pronouncing his unbeatable style. 

A prolific artist, Guiragossian, never stopped painting, even during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), when most artists, especially Palestinians, fled the country. Besides, he painted during his extended stay at the hospital, after his unfortunate elevator accident. [viii]Certainly, through painting, Guiragossian escaped his feelings of suffering and misery.

“In 1974 Guiragossian was in an elevator that got stuck midway between floors due to a power cut.” [People confined in the elevator panicked]. So, “he broke the glass door for some air. At that moment, the power came back on, and the lift started to move. Unfortunately, his leg got jammed and then severed. He lost his leg and had to wear a prosthetic.”

Over the years, Juliette Hindian, the artist's supportive partner, assumed a pivotal role in organizing Guiragossian's exhibitions. Later, Guiragossian's two elder sons Emanuel and Jean-Paul, both established painters, would also accompany their father on several exhibition trips. On November 20th, 1993, Guiragossian completed his last painting, later entitled L’Adieu, 1993 in which he was able to merge the early and advanced stages of his art creation.  Right after, he shared his achievement with his youngest daughter Manuella, a contemporary artist now. On that same day, Paul Guiragossian passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack at his home near Rabieh in Mount Lebanon.

Endnotes 

[i] Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath, “Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity, “In Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., p.23, Italy, Silvana, 2018.

[ii] Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath," Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity,” In Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., p.24, Italy, Silvana, 2018. Check also: Bardaouil, Sam. "Paul Guiragossian: The Human Condition OR An Entry into the Study of Arab Modernity." Academia.edu,p.2. www.academia.edu/5291536/Paul_Guiragossian_the_Human_Condition_OR_An_Entry_into_the_Study_of_Arab_Modernity,

[iii] Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath," Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity,” in Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., pp.24-25, Italy, Silvana, 2018. Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath," Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity,” in Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., pp.24-25, Italy, Silvana, 2018.

[iv] Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath, “Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity,” in Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., p.26, Italy, Silvana, 2018.

Note: More on this can be found in Farouk Al-Boukaily, 'ma'bad al-fann (The Temple of Art). Document located in the Paul Guiragossian Foundation archives. 

[v] Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath,” Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity,” in Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., pp. 27-28. Italy, Silvana, 2018.

[vi] Bardaouil, Sam. "Paul Guiragossian: The Human Condition OR An Entry into the Study of Arab Modernity." Academia.edu,pp3 www.academia.edu/5291536/Paul_Guiragossian_the_Human_Condition_OR_An_Entry_into_the_Study_of_Arab_Modernity.

[vii] “Guiragossian presented four monumental paintings: Le Cycle de La Vie, La Guerre et a Paix, Une Funéraille Historique, a tribute to the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and La Vie et La Joie – also known as Antiques, plus 33 smaller paintings, as stage-backdrops in the play idrab el-haramieh, performed and directed by renowned theatre directors Nidal Al-Ashkar and Roger Assaf.”
Bardawil, Sam and Till Fellrath,” Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity,” In Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity, by Sam Bardaouil et al., pp.72, Italy, Silvana, 2018.

[viii] Interview with Manuella Guiragossian. 
Ayad, Myrna. "Remembering Paul Guiragossian: 'My Father, the Greatest Storyteller I Know.'" The National. The National, February 3, 2020. https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/remembering-paul-guiragossian-my-father-the-greatest-storyteller-i-know-1.973034

Sources

Ayad, Myrna. "Remembering Paul Guiragossian: 'My Father, the Greatest Storyteller I Know.'" The National. The National, February 3, 2020. https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/remembering-paul-guiragossian-my-father-the-greatest-storyteller-i-know-1.973034

Bardaouil, Sam. “Paul Guiragossian: the Human Condition OR An Entry into the Study of Arab Modernity.” Academia.edu. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.academia.edu/5291536/Paul_Guiragossian_the_Human_Condition_OR_An_Entry_into_the_Study_of_Arab_Modernity.

Biography. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://www.paulguiragossian.com/en/DynamicPages/biography/biography.

Boullata, Kamal, and John Berger. “Palestinian Art 1850-2005.” Amazon. Saqi, 2009. https://www.amazon.com/Palestinian-Art-Present-Kamal-Boullata/dp/0863566480.

Gronlund, Melissa. “The UAE Pays Homage to Beiruti Modernist Paul Guiragossian.” The National. The National, February 28, 2018. https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/art/the-uae-pays-homage-to-beiruti-modernist-paul-guiragossian-1.708730

“Icon Art.” Icon Painting, Icons. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/painting/icons.htm.

Paul Guiragossian. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org.qa/en/bios/Pages/Paul-Guiragossian-.aspx.

“Paul Guiragossian.” Paul Guiragossian. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://paulguiragossian.com/.

“PAUL GUIRAGOSSIAN (LEBANESE, 1925-1993) , La Lutte De L'Existence.” , La Lutte de l'Existence | Christie's. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5728313.

"Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993), Automne (Autumn)." , Automne (Autumn) | Christie's. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5875475.

"Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993), La Famille." , La famille | Christie's. Accessed April 29, 2020. https://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5486429.

“Paul Guiragossian: Displacing Modernity.” Paul Guiragossian Displacing Modernity ARTBOOK | D.A.P. 2018 Catalog Silvana Editorale Books Exhibition Catalogues 9788836639076, October 23, 2018. https://www.artbook.com/9788836639076.html

Meeting Paul Guiragossian https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=216&v=QdHObQrdP0w&feature=emb_logo

Archives Télé Liban Moukabalat - مقابلات https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aGKtt4vUz8

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Selected Solo Exhibitions

2018

Paul Guiragossian: Testimonies of Existence, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE

2017

Paul Guiragossian, Galerie Tanit, Beirut, Lebanon

2013

Paul Guiragossian: The Human Condition, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, Lebanon

2011

Paul Guiragossian: Retrospective, the Paul Guiragossian Museum, Jdeideh, Lebanon

2008

L’Empire des Mères, Emmagoss Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2007

Dar Al Funoon, Exhibition of watercolors, Kuwait

2004

The Press Club, Press Headquarters Center, Beirut, Lebanon
Notre Dame University auditorium, Zouk, Lebanon

2003

Green Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2002

Emmagoss Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

2000

L’Art Du Portrait Dans L’Art de Paul Guiragossian, Centre Culturel Francais, Beirut, Lebanon

1999

Images of Faith, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon

1997

Emmagoss and La Faculté des Beaux-Arts et des Arts appliqués de l'Université du Saint-Esprit (USEK), Kaslik, Lebanon

1995

Blancs et Noir, Emmagoss Art Gallery, Zalka, Lebanon

1994

Paul Guiragossian Wal Masrah: Shaghaf Da’em (Paul Guiragossian and the Theater: A Constant Passion), Masrah El Madeenah, Beirut, Lebanon
Paul Guirgossian, Emmagoss Art Gallery, Zalka, Lebanon

1993

Variations Dramatiques, Association for the Promotion of Music in the North of Lebanon, Barsbay Tower, Tripoli, Lebanon
Akhnaton Gallery, Cairo, Egypt

1992

Loubnan Assalam (The Peace That is Lebanon), The Glass Hall of the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, Beirut, Lebanon
Park Hotel, Chtaura, Lebanon

1991

Paul Guiragossian in Los Angeles, Tekeyan Cultural Association, Los Angeles, US
International Art Center, Zalka, Lebanon
Paul Guiragossian Retrospective, Centre Culturel Français, Beirut, Lebanon
Belmont Hotel, Ehden, Lebanon
Soviet Cultural Center, Beirut, Lebanon
Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France

1990

The Chahba Cham Palace, Aleppo, Syria
Maarouf Saad Art Center, Sidon, Lebanon
Galerie Pays de Cham, Damascus, Syria

1989

Salle Des Pas Perdus, Unesco, Paris, France

1988

Genocide and Renaissance, Armenian Students Association of BUC/NDU, Lebanon
Galerie G. Tabbal, Beirut, Lebanon

1987

Galerie G. Tabbal, Beirut, Lebanon
Tekeyan Cultural Association, New York, Los Angeles, US; Montreal, Canada
St. John’s Armenian Church hall, Detroit, US
Platform International Gallery, Washington D.C., US
Hovnanian Armenian School, New Jersey, US

1986

Galerie La Toile, Rimal, Zouk, Lebanon
Lebanese – Soviet Friendship Days, Applied Arts of Lebanon, National Arts Museum of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus
The Roots of Cedars, Sahakian College, Beirut, Lebanon
Tribute Celebration, Der Melkoni, Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon

1985

Al Zahra (The Flower), The Cultural Center of Arts & Letters of Kuwait, Kuwait
Galerie d'Art Bekhazi, Ashrafieh, Lebanon
Faqra Club, Faqra, Lebanon
The Belmont Hotel exhibition hall. Cultural Movement of Zgharta ,Ehden, Lebanon
Bank Petra hall, Amman, Jordan

1984

Du Genocide à La Renaissance, Salle Gulbenkian, The Armenian Catholicosate of Antelias, Antelias, Lebanon
Al Zahra (The Flower), Secours Populaire Libanais, Hotel Carlton, Beirut, Lebanon

1983

Galerie d'Art Bekhazi, Ashrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Ministry of Tourism Glass Hall, Hamra, Lebanon

1982

National Museum of Fine Arts of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

1981

Gebraniat, Ministry of Tourism Glass Hall; Gallery One, Casino du Liban, Beirut, Lebanon

1980

Celui qui croyait à ses yeux et à ses mains. (Paul Guiragossian illustrating the poems of Jacques Lebreton), Cultural Mouvement of Antélias. St. Elie church hall., Antelias, Lebanon
Galerie Chahine, Beirut, Lebanon

1979

The National Council of Culture, Arts & Letters, Kuwait city, Kuwait

1978

The National Council of Culture, Arts & Letters of Kuwait, Kuwait city, Kuwait
Association of the Armenian Red Cross, Club Azadamard, Jeïtawi, Lebanon
Galerie Elcir, Mkalles, Lebanon

1977

Paix et Vie, St Elie church, Antelias, Lebanon
Palais de la Culture au Liban, Rabieh Club, Rabieh, Lebanon
The National Museum of Damascus (Retrospective), Damascus, Syria

1974

Studio 27 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
Al Zahra (The Flower), Secours Populaire Libanais (Together for Mankind), Beirut, Lebanon
La Famille, Modulart, Beirut, Lebanon

1973

Studio 27 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

1972

Artists Union, Yerevan, Armenia
Studio 27 Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon

1970

Paul Guiragossian: Recent paintings. The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., US
L'Orient Hall (L'Orient newspaper's hall), Beirut, Lebanon
Hotel Normandy, L'Atelier d'Art Dramatique de Beyrouth (The Strike of Thieves Play), Beirut, Lebanon

1969

Galerie L’Amateur, Beirut, Lebanon

1967

Galerie L’Amateur, Beirut, Lebanon

1966

L'Orient Hall (L'Orient newspaper's hall), Beirut, Lebanon

1964

Galleria d'Arte Cairola, Milan, Italy
Internales Kultur und Austauschzentrun, Gartenhaus, Frankfurt, Germany
American University of Beirut Alumni Association (Retrospective), Beirut, Lebanon

1963

Galerie Alecco Saab, Beirut, Lebanon
L'Orient Gallery (L'Orient newspaper hall), Beirut, Lebanon

1962

Galerie Alecco Saab, Beirut, Lebanon
Galerie Mouffe, Paris, France

1961

Galerie Alecco Saab, Beirut, Lebanon

1960

Centre d'Etudes Superieures, Beirut, Lebanon
Galerie Alecco Saab, Beirut, Lebanon

1959

Centre d’Etudes Superieures, Beirut, Lebanon

1958

Galeria d'Arte Moderna La Permanente, Florence, Italy

1956

Café La Palette, Beirut, Lebanon

1955

Centre d’Etudes Superieures, Beirut, Lebanon

1954

Café La Palette, Beirut, Lebanon

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018

Face Value: Portraiture, a gallerist’s Personal Collection, Saleh Barakat Gallery Beirut, Lebanon
A Century In Flux, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE

2017

L’Emozione dei COLORI nell’arte, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAM) and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
Lines of Subjectivity: Portrait and Landscape paintings, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan
100 Chefs D'oeuvre de l'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France
Modern Art from the Middle East, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, US
Imperfect Chronology: Arab Art from the Modern to the Contemporary - Debating Modernism I. Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
Chrétiens d'Orient: 2000 Ans d'Histoire. Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France

2016

The Short Century, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE
The Sea Suspended, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran, Iran

2015

Saltwater, 14th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul Modern Art Museum, Istanbul, Turkey

2014

Sky Over The East, Emirates Palace, UAE

2013

The Family, (Paul, Emmanuel, Jean Paul and Manuella Guiragossian). Anima Gallery, Doha, Qatar
Re:Orient: Investigating Modernism in the Arab World 1950s - 70s, Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE

2010

Pieces for a Museum, (Paul Guiragossian and Shafic Abboud), Dora, Lebanon

2009

Landscapes. Cityscapes. 1, Maqam gallery, Saifi Village, Beirut, Lebanon
The Responsive Hand Drawings 1, Maqam gallery, Saifi Village, Beirut, Lebanon.
Artspace DIFC inaugural exhibition, Dubai, UAE

2008

ItaliaArabia, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, US

1994

XVII Salon d'Automne, Musée Nicolas Sursock, Beirut, Lebanon

1993

Still Life in Lebanese Art, Alumni Association and the Humanities Division of Beirut University College (BUC). Sheikh Zayed Hall, BUC, Beirut, Lebanon

1991

Lebanese Modern Art, The Egyptian Ministry of Culture. Akhenaten Hall Art Center, Cairo, Egypt
Lebanese Landscape, Beirut University College (BUC) Alumni Association and the Humanities Division, Sheikh Zayed Hall, BUC, Beirut, Lebanon
Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, France

1989

Paul and Emmanuel Guiragossian, Darat Al-Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, Jordan

1988

Contemporary Lebanese Artists, Kufa Gallery, London, UK
2nd Baghdad International Arts Festival, The Iraqi Ministry of Culture and Information, Baghdad, Iraq
War and Love, (Works by 11 Lebanese Contemporary Artists touring the United States until the end of 1988). US
Les Cimaises Gallery, Holiday Beach, Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon

1986

Art for Humanity, Baghdad International Festival of Arts, Baghdad, Iraq

1978

Salon de Mai, Municipality Palace, Zouk Mikael, Lebanon

1977

Lubnan 78, Dar Al-Fan Wal-Adab (The House of Art and Literature). Beirut, Lebanon
Paul Guiragossian, Seta Manuokian & Omran Al-Kaysi, Intercontinental Hotel, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Exposition De Peinture, Museo Del Folklore Romano, Rome, Italy
L'Exposition des Amis de Charbel, Galerie DAMO, Antelias, Lebanon

1974

The first exhibition for the artists in El-Metn, (region in Lebanon), The North Metn Council for Culture. Beirut, Lebanon

1972

16 Lebanese Artists, Centro d’Arte La Barcaccia, Roma, Italy

1971

Contemporary Art from Lebanon, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, US

1970

Galerie l'Amateur, Beirut, Lebanon

1969

Exposition Collective de Peintres Libanais et Etrangers, Galerie l’Amateur, Beirut, Lebanon

1968

John F. Kennedy Cultural Center, Washington D.C., US

1967

Exposition – Retrospective de l’Art Libanais Contemporain, Lebanese Ministry of National Education and Fine Arts. Palais de l'Unesco, Beirut, Lebanon

1966

Lebanese Armenian Artists, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

1965

IV Salon d'Automne, Musée Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock, Beirut, Lebanon

1962

IX Salon de Peinture et de Sculpture, Lebanese Ministry of National Education and Fine Arts. Beirut, Lebanon
Pittori Libanesi Contemporanei (Contemporary Lebanese Painters), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna. October 26 - Novemver 10. Rome, Italy

1961

Exposition de La Genèse, Galerie Alecco Saab. January. Beirut, Lebanon
Prominent Lebanese Artists, Engineering Students Society. American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut, Lebanon
Exposition d’Oeuvres de Peintres et de Sculpteurs Libanais, Musée Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock, Beirut, Lebanon

1958

II Mostra Concorso Della Grande Medaglia, Società Delle Belle Arti, Circolo degli Artisti. Casa Di Dante, Florence, Italy
Mostra Internazionale d’Arte, Galleria d’Arte Moderna La Permanente, Florence, Italy

1957

VIeme Salon De Peinture Et De Sculpture, Lebanese Ministry of National Education and Fine Arts, Palais de l'Unesco, Beirut, Lebanon

1955

Salon d'Automne, Palais De l'UNESCO, Beirut, Lebanon

1952

Peintres et Sculpteurs Résident au Liban, Rotary Club of Beirut at the French Cultural Center of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Awards and Honors

1993

Knighthood of the National order of the Cedar, Beirut, Lebanon

1986

Knighthood of the Order of Saint Sylvester, awarded by his His Holiness the Pope Jean-Paul II, Vatican, Italy
Knighthood of the Order of Saint Mesrob Mashtots, awarded by His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of Cicilia, Republic of Armenia

1985

Mardiros Sarian Award of Plastic Arts of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

1984

Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Paris, France

1974

Knighthood of the Ordo Militiae Crucis Templi (O.M.C.T). of Germany, Lebanon
Honorary merit award of the Ministry of National Education and Fine Arts, Lebanon

1970

Said Akl Award. Lebanon.
First Prize of The National Education, Beirut, Lebanon

1969

1st prize the poet Said Akl Award - 1st prize “Philips” Award, Lebanon

1966

First prize of the Phillips Award. Lebanon
Second prize for painting at the 6th Salon d’Automne, Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon

1964

Prize of Fine Arts, German Association of Arts & Culture, Germany

1959

Onore Al Merito. Accademia Universitaria Internazionale, Italy
Medal of the Academie Internationale de Lutèce in the Bienale de Paris, France
Scholarship to the Ateliers des Maîtres de l’Ecole de Paris, Republic of France

1958

First prize at the Competition for the Grand Medal exhibition organized by the Society of Fine Arts – The Artists Circle, Florence, Italy

1957

Gold Medal of the International Exhibitions at the “Permanente” Gallery, Florence, Italy

1956

Prize of the Ministry of National Education and Fine Arts, Salon d’Automne, Palais de l’Unesco, Lebanon
Prix De Florence with scholarship to Florence Italy, Italian Cultural Institute in Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Prize of the Academy of Fine Arts of Beirut, Lebanon

Publications

2013

Paul Guiragossian: The Human Condition, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath

1982

Paul Guiragossian, Joseph Tarrab

Collections

The Nicolas Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon
The Bzommar Museum, Lebanon.
Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC.
The Space Museum, Moscow, Russia
The Modern Art Museum, Vatican.
The Modern Art Museum, Sao Paolo, Brasil.
Modern Art Museum of Yerevan, Armenia
National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
The Mekhitarist Museum, Vienna.
The National Museum, Damascus Tag Heuer Replica .
The National Council Museum of Swiss Watches Replica Culture, Arts & Letters, Kuwait.
Jordan National Gallery, Amman, Jordan.
The Minsk Best Replica Watches Museum, Byelorussia.
Institut Du Monde Arab. Paris, France
Mekhitarist Monastery Museum of Vienna, Austria
National Arts Museum of Belaurus, Minsk, Belaurus
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Mekhitarist Monastery Museum of Venice, Venice, Italy
The Khaled Shoman Collection, Amman, Jordan
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan
Modern Art Museum of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait
National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature of Kuwait, Kuwait
The Cilicia Museum, Antelias, Lebanon
Musée du Couvent Armenien Catholic de Notre Dame De Bzommar, Lebanon
Ramzi & Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut, Lebanon
Emile Hannouche Museum, Beirut, Lebanon
Mathaf : Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar
National Museum of Damascus, Syria
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE
The Farjam Foundation, Dubai, UAE
Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, Dubai, UAE

Sources

Bardaouil, Sam, and Till Fellrath. Paul Guiragossian: The Human Condition. Beirut, Lebanon: The Paul Guiragossian Foundation, 2013.

"Biography." Paul Guiragossian. Accessed September 26, 2017. http://www.paulguiragossian.com/biography/index.php?id=5.

Guiragossian, Paul, and Joseph Tarrab. Paul Guiragossian. Beyrouth: EMMAGOSS, 1982.

"Paul Guiragossian." Barjeel Art Foundation. Accessed October 4, 2017. http://www.barjeelartfoundation.org/artist/palestine/paul-guiragossian/.

Rogers, Sarah. "Paul Guiragossian." Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art. Accessed September 26, 2017. http://www.encyclopedia.mathaf.org.qa/en/bios/Pages/Paul-Guiragossian-.aspx.

Boullata, Kamal, and John Berger. Palestinian art: from 1850 to the Present. London: Saqi, 2009.

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