Google celebrates late artist Louay Kayali’s birth anniversary

CAIRO – 20 January 2019: Google celebrated the birth anniversary of Syrian fine artist Louay Kayali, who was born on Jan.20, 1934 and passed away on Dec. 26, 1978.

Kayali graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 1961 and returned to Syria where he started his career as a fine arts professor at Damascus University, where prominent artist Fateh Moudarres also taught. One of the most famous exhibitions of Kayali was his first solo exhibition in 1959 at the La Fontenelle Gallery in Italy.

The fine artist represented Syria alongside Moudarress in an exhibition in Venice in 1960 and held his second gallery at the exhibition hall in Rome. Kayali held his third exhibition, which contained 28 oil paintings and 30 drawings, at the World Modern Art Gallery in Damascus. His fourth exhibition was held at the World Modern Art Gallery in Damascus in 1962, his fifth exhibition was held in Milan in 1964 and his sixth exhibition was held in Rome.

In 1967, Kayali held his seventh exhibition under the title "For the Cause" at the Arab Cultural Center in Damascus and presented 30 coal paintings. The late artist travelled across Syria to exhibit his works, which were subjected to attacks by art critics and Syrian press.The fierce criticism caused the artist to go into severe depression; he stopped teaching and painting and retreated to his home in Damascus to eventually leave Syria in 1968.

Despite his illness, Kayali was able to hold his eighth exhibition in Beirut in 1972 at the house of Alaa el-Din el-Droubi and in 1974 his ninth exhibition was hosted in Damascus. Kayali held his 10th exhibition in Gallery One in Beirut in 1975. Kayali was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1934 and studied art in the Accademia di Belle Arti after having studied at the Al-Tajhiz School where his work was first exhibited in 1952.

He met Syrian artist Wahbi al-Hariri there and the two were friends for the rest of Kayali's life. Hariri, who was Moudarres' mentor, also became Kayali's mentor. Hariri introduced Kayali and Moudarres in 1955, who together represented the Syrian modern art at the Venice Biennial Fair. Kayali suffered from depression and died in 1978 from burns incurred from his bed catching fire, reportedly from a cigarette.