Arab artists: Nizar Daher’s passport to the world of art

Lebanese artist Nizar Daher has taken art to a new level. The fine artist’s masterpieces are created by mixing sand and water.

Daher was born in 1951 in the Beqaa in Lebanon. His academic study in Russia left a profound impact on his artistic creations. He considers his time in Russia as his passport to the world of art. He is well-known in Lebanon, the Arab world and Russia. One of his paintings is displayed in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Sand is not the only salient feature in Dhaher’s paintings, but it gets the credit for his earlier journey towards art which originated on a rainy day in his native village Tebneen.

Lebanese artist Nizar Dhaher

“I used to mix sand with water and draw my paintings on them,” said Daher about the materials he used to paint.

Dhaher never abandoned the sands of his Lebanese origin and carried them over to Russia where he studied fine arts. There his artwork broke new ground to earn him fame.

Once one sets inside in the Hermitage Museum, it feels like one is living a dream within a dream.

“I still recall the poplar trees whose leaves change color in autumn,” he said.

Daher believes there is a soul behind each of his paintings. When asked whether he feels besieged by paintings haunted by souls, he said: “I am not surrounded by them; in fact I fly with them.”

To read more and view Nizar Daher’s art, please follow the link:
http://enawafeth.alarabiya.net/content/passport-world-art