| Wahbi al-Hariri وهبي الحريري |
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|---|---|
Wahbi al-Hariri 1982 |
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| Birth name | Mohamed Wahbi al-Hariri |
| Born | 1914 Aleppo, Syria |
| Died | August 14, 1994 (aged 80) Aleppo, Syria |
| Nationality | American-Syrian |
| Field | Painting, drawing, sculpture, writing, photography |
| Training | Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze |
| Movement | Classical Painting |
| Influenced | Fateh Moudarres Louay Kayyali Taleb Yazgi Mohammed Fathi Kabawah |
Mohamed Wahbi Al-Hariri Rifai (Arabic: وهبي الحريري), OAL, (1914–1994) was an Arab-American artist, architect, and author.
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Wahbi Al-Hariri was born in 1914 in Aleppo, Syria. He also lived in France, Italy, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America.
Wahbi Al-Hariri's documented family tree spans over fourteen centuries. Some of his ancestors include Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Hariri known as Al-Hariri of Basra the 11th Century poet and philosopher, author of the Maqamat al-Hariri (The Assemblies of al-Hariri) named after him, Ali Al-Hariri-Rifai, the 13th Century theologian, Mustapha Al-Hariri-Rifai the 18th Century musician and theologian, and Abdelrahman Al-Hariri-Rifai the 19th century calligrapher and astronomer.
Wahbi Al-Hariri began drawing and sculpting as a child. Recognizing his talent, his father furthered his exceptional artistic development and encouraged him in 1932 to be one of the first known contemporary Middle Easterner to travel to Italy to formally study art. In 1937, he graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti and the Istituto di Dante Alighieri in Rome.
Upon his return to Syria, his artistic work evolved to include sculptures, oil paintings, and photography. He also became actively engaged in archeology and was instrumental in the early efforts to preserve the historic ruins of the city of Palmyra. His studio was located in the heart of Aleppo’s old city, medinah, where it occupied several grand rooms on the second floor of an ancient home near the Citadel, al-qual’ah. During that time, his studio became an artistic and social rallying center, a much-sought after social salon and a cauldron of opposition to France’s colonial presence in the Middle East. Wahbi Al-Hariri was widely known for his outspoken and defiant attitude toward the French occupation, and in pointed retaliation the French colonial forces burned his studio just before an art exhibition. As a result, most of his work from this period was destroyed, and only a small collection of his early large oil paintings, portraits, and sculptures survived.
During this time in Syria Wahbi Al-Hariri taught at Aleppo's elite Tajhiz college where he mentored and inspired a generation of Syrian artists including Fateh Moudarres, Louay Kayali, Taleb Yazgi, and Mohammed Fathi Kabawah.
In 1948, two years after Syria’s independence from France, his talent won him a scholarship to Yale University, but his artistic drive took him to Paris instead to study art and architecture at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSB-A) and historic preservation at the Louvre.
In 1954, Wahbi Al-Hariri received his D.P.L.G. with honors and was awarded the highly coveted Beaux-Arts Bronze Medal of Distinction.
After returning from France to Syria he immersed himself in his artistic work, wrote extensively, taught, and won several architectural competitions. However, his hopes became frustrated by the growing sense of national unease and the political instability that was rocking the country.
In 1965, a military coup caused the cancellation of a large exhibit of his work and the arrest of some of his acquaintances.
After a friend’s invitation to visit Saudi Arabia, Wahbi Al-Hariri grew enamored with the Arabian peninsula's still pristine vistas and was inspired by the many facets of its little-known heritage. Consequently in 1965 he decided to move to the Kingdom.
In 1981, after an intensive period of research, travel, and on-site work in some of the Kingdom’s most remote areas, he completed an important collection of large graphite drawings illustrating Arabia’s significant architectural heritage. Subsequently, a full-size facsimile edition of this collection, entitled Traditional Architecture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was published in Florence, Italy, with the assistance of his son, Mokhless Al-Hariri.
Copies of the book can be found in Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Library at Buckingham Palace, the library of Emperor Akihito of Japan, at The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, as well as several other national libraries worldwide.[1]
The publication of this hand-printed art collector's folio brought about worldwide recognition of his classical artistic work and culminated with a 1984 one-man exhibit of the collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[2] With it, he became the first living artist to be honored with a one-man show of his work at the Smithsonian. The exhibit subsequently went on a tour of several other American museums.[3]
During the last ten years of his life, his spiritual drive and classical artistic talent, coupled with the extraordinary participation of his wife, Widad Marachi—and the earnest encouragements of numerous friends, scholars, and dignitaries throughout the world—inspired him to travel from Spain to China to identify and document the most significant historic mosques of the world. Despite a four-year battle with cancer, he was able to produce in record time a body of work that features over forty historic mosques. The collection known as The Spiritual Edifices of Islam , was completed with the assistance of his son Mokhless Al-Hariri, and embodies the final evolution of his distinctive classical yet contemporary style.
The truth is that the artist could rely on perfect sketches representing not only the exact proportions but also all the architectural details, such as columns and cornices necessary for completing the drawings later. [4]
Wahbi Al-Hariri died on August 16, 1994, in Aleppo, Syria, the birthplace he had not visited for almost twenty years. Until the end he overtly maintained an optimistic view of his condition and remained driven and inspired by an unyielding thirst for "knowledge and constant search for beauty."
Following his death at the age of 80, a large number of his early oil paintings, watercolors, and photographs—some dating back to 1933—were found after having been saved from his initial studio fire. Several pieces underwent extensive restorations and some became part of a travelling retrospective exhibit.
Wahbi Al-Hariri-Rifai, a distinguished artist known as "the last of the classicists," died [...] at the age of 80. He was the first Middle Easterner to study art formally in Italy and the first Muslim Arab to be awarded France's Beaux Arts Medal of Distinction. [...] [5]
The battles notwithstanding, his last years were prolific ones as he completed some 100 paintings and drawings in only four years. [4]
Despite being held in close trust by The Al-Hariri Family, some of his work has occasionally surfaced at auction-houses like Christie's, and Sotheby's. As recently as in 2009, an unsigned edition of his limited-run folio collection of prints hand-pressed in Florence, Italy by Fratelli Alinari-Institutio di Edizione Artistiche was auctioned.[6]
The majority of his work is held by the family. His works can also be found in several private or national collections and are rarely exchanged or offered on the public market.
In 1991, in addition to numerous other international citations and honors, France further recognized his artistic achievements by awarding him the highly regarded distinction of Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres; (Knight, Order of Arts and Letters).
The Royal Swedish Consulate in Aleppo, Syria is located on a street named after the artist.[7]
Unless otherwise noted, quotes are taken from Lisa Kaaki's article that appeared in 2002.[4]
I caught a glimpse of sun rays filtering through a window, thus lighting up a portion of this magnificent building. I was racing against the sun, desperately trying to finish my sketch before the light disappeared. I knew I had only an hour and a half before sunset.
Also known in Arabic as Buyut Allah ("بيوت الله"), the exhibit made its 1999 world debut at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 2002–2003 it was also shown at other world-class venues including:
At Kuala Lumpur, in response to the public’s interest, the exhibit was extended from one to four months.
Lisa Kaaki, drawing on a previous interview she had conducted writes:
[...]I interviewed [Al-Hariri] several times on television and radio. He spoke with a most engaging passion about his books: "The Traditional Architecture of Saudi Arabia," "The Heritage of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" and "Asir: Heritage and Civilization."
After I finished my books, I felt I had to do another one and I thought that if I were to choose a subject, it had to be mosques, he told me during one of our meetings. As he spoke, his eyes lit up and I sensed that I was about to hear something unique [...]. My [Kaaki] last meeting with him was one month before his death. Each time I looked at my notebook, I remembered the unique journey which took him from Spain to China, looking for the most significant mosques in the world. Many times, I wondered if the book — "Spiritual Edifices of Islam" — would ever be published. I was both relieved and deeply moved when I learned that the drawings of the mosques were part of an exhibition at the National Museum in Riyadh.[4]
The Spiritual Edifices of Islam traveling exhibit includes two collections:
The collection is owned by The Al-Hariri Family and is toured and exhibited by GDG Exhibits Trust.[13]