Khalil Saleeby

Khalil Saleeby was born in Bteghrine in Mount Lebanon and studied art at the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut before traveling to Edinburgh, Philadelphia, and Paris. In Paris, he immersed himself in the Impressionist movement, befriending Pierre-Auguste Renoir and absorbing the techniques of light, color, and expressive brushwork.

Returning to Beirut in 1912, Saleeby established a studio that revolutionized Lebanese art, boldly introducing impressionistic landscapes, self-portraits, and the first academic nude studies in modern Lebanese history. His brilliant career was cut tragically short in 1928 when he and his American wife Carrie were murdered during a dispute over village water rights.