SHAFIC ABBOUD, COMPOSITION, 1958, OIL ON PANEL, 92X64CM, COURTESY OF AGIAL ART GALLERY

Founded in Beirut in 1990, Agial Art Gallery is a leading destination to enjoy modern and contemporary art from Lebanon and the Arab world. The gallery is host to one of the largest permanent collections in the region, an important historical survey of Middle Eastern art, from early modern pioneers to emerging contemporary artists.

Agial presents a solo exhibition of Lebanese modernist painter Shafic Abboud (1926-2004) who has influenced Arab painters in the 20th and 21st century. The selected works originate from his formative period in Paris, 1955-1965, during which he was part of the Paris school and under the influence of avant-garde artists. While Abboud is widely recognized for his abstract style these works are only formally abstract; Abboud begins to experiment with a softer palette and investigates the iconography of the East.