Muhanna al-Dura

Muhanna al-Dura was born in Amman and began painting under the mentorship of George Aleef, a Russian officer who established an art studio in the capital. In 1954, Dura became the first Jordanian artist to receive formal European training, graduating from the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome in 1958.

Returning to Jordan, Dura founded the Department of Culture and Fine Arts in 1964 and established the Jordan National Institute of Fine Arts in 1970, teaching generations of artists. His revolutionary geometric abstractions and textured expressionist canvases, capturing the light and desert earth of Jordan, won international acclaim, exhibiting at the Venice Biennale and the Phillips Collection in Washington.