Hussein Madi 

Hussein Madi, painter, sculptor and engraver, born in 1938 in Chebaa in South Lebanon, was one of the most famous artists in the Middle East. Between 1958 and 1962, he studied painting at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts in Beirut before moving to Rome in 1963 to continue his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Having left for two months, he stayed in Rome for 22 years! He learned everything from frescoes and mosaics to bronze work. It was precisely in Italy that he developed his approach to sculpture and proposed a method for creating volume from folded and seamless shapes. Her Bulls, Birds, Cigarette Woman and other human silhouettes combine the radical geometric plan with the elegance of the curve thanks to which Madi gave them remarkable individuality.

In her paintings, closely linked to her sculptures - with the same vocabulary, plus color - Madi depicts the variations of a subject in its multiplication and achieves exceptional depth and harmony. Elected by his peers, he was president of the Association of Lebanese Artists between 1982 and 1992.