Jean Khalife (1925-1978, Lebanon),

Abstract oil on canvas in ochre and mustard with navy and black, c. 1960 - 1970, signed L.R. Canvas: 14"h x 10.75"w. Framed 20"h x 17"w.

Jean Khalife was born in Lebanon, from 1951 until 1954, he lived in Paris, studying at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts and at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. In 1959, he spent one year in Rome, following which he spent another between London and Paris.

Between 1967 and 1969, Khalife was President of the Association of Lebanese Artists, Painters and Sculptors. While in Beirut, he taught at the Ecole Superieure d'Ingenieurs, at the Italian Cultural Centre and at the Lebanese University.

He participated in many group exhibitions in Lebanon and abroad. They include the Salon d'Inverno at Galleria Margutissima, Rome (1959); the Salon of the Sursock Museum, Beirut (1962); the Biennales of Alexandria (1960-1966) and Sao Paulo (1966-1971); the Tate Gallery, London (1971); and the Nika Museum, Tokyo (1973). His one-man shows include: Galerie Alecco Saab, Beirut (1960, 1961), Galerie de l'Universite, Paris (1963); Dar el Fan, Beirut (1970); the John F. Kennedy Centre, Beirut (1971), the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1971) and the Cultural Centre, Damascus. Khalife was awarded many prizes including the Lebanese Ministry of National Education Award (1956, 1957) and the Prize of the President's Wife Zalfa Chamoun, Beirut (1968). He was awarded the Lebanese Order of Merit in 1979. In 1982, he was paid a special tribute by the Sursock Museum, along with other artists who had died since 1975. (Ref: http://www.onefineart.com/en/artists/jkhalife/)