The Art of Nabil Nahas

Nabil Nahas is a master of color, texture, and atmosphere. Lebanon's most famous contemporary artist, he is known for his geometric motifs and decorative patterns inspired by the natural world. This lavishly illustrated survey, the definitive monograph on the artist's oeuvre to date, celebrates his unique vision. Schooled in the tradition of Western abstract painting, Nahas has interpreted its influences and styles in a provocative way, encapsulating the dichotomies of old and new, abstraction and realism, and East and West. Among Nahas's best-known series are his thickly encrusted starfish paintings and his monumental landscapes of the cacti, cedar, olive, and palm trees relating to his childhood in evocative palettes of gold, ocher, and black against a dazzling Mediterranean blue sky. An insightful essay by Carter Ratcliff explores Nahas's artistic development through an art-historical lens, contextualizing it within modern and postmodern art.