As one of Syria’s most celebrated painters, Fateh Moudarres is internationally renowned as the pioneer of modernism in Syria, creating a unique style influenced by Syrian heritage, the plight of the rural population and regional upheavals.
Moudarres was born in Aleppo 1922. He was a Syrian painter and became a leader of the Syrian modern art movement. At first, Moudarres was interested in realist techniques, but was influenced by Surrealism when he studied at the Roman Accademia di Belle Arti from 1954 to 1960. He began to incorporate abstraction into his painting while he was in Europe, blending the traditions of Syrian art with Western techniques, becoming increasingly political in subject matter. Upon returning to Syria, where he was lecturer and Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus University until 1993, he became a highly influential professor for generations of artists.
Moudarres was also known for his philosophical ideas and critical art essays, publishing both his writing and artwork in regional magazines. During the 1960s he turned from Syrian Art references and religious iconography which was prevalent in his early work in preference for a more current style of non-objectivity. His work then centered around political themes from 1967 onwards. He studied at the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts for three years in the 1970s before returning to Syria to teach at the University of Damascus. His work now exists in three main collections: The Al-Hariri Family, the Collection of Rudolf and Maria Fechter, and the Collection of Walter Scheel.
Moudarres continued painting until his death in 1999, and his work has been included in international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale, São Paulo Biennale, New York International Art Fair, Contemporary Arab Art Exhibition in Paris, and the Seoul and Cairo Biennials. In addition, works by Moudarres have been acquired by institutions such the British Museum, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; National Museum in Damascus, Syrian Ministry of Culture, Dummar Museum, the Dalloul Art Foundation, Beirut; the Jalanbo Collection and Ibrahimi Collection, Jordan. A retrospective of his career was held at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris in 1995.
