Nazem al-Jaafari

Nazem Al Jaafari (Arabic: ناظم الجعفري‎) (born in 1918 in Damascus, Syria) is considered the founder of impressionism in Syria. al-Jaafari studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo between 1944-1947, after which he returned to Syria and worked as an art teacher in secondary schools and taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus ^[1] One of his greatest achievements as an artist is the documentation of the old quarters of Damascus as it existed at the turn of the twentieth century including lifestyles, designs, and fashion.

His body of work consists of over 7000 drawings — all still part of the artist’s collection as he rarely sells his work.

Nazem Al Jaafari was one of the pioneer impressionists of Syrian painting. Impressionism remained the most popular style in Syria both before and after the Second World War. Al Jaafari was a recluse and seldom sold any of his work because he was hoping the state would build a museum devoted to him.^[2]

Yet his work was eventually collected by the Museum of Damascus and in by several private collectors. Recently his work was auctioned at Bohnam's Dubai in 2008 and at Ayyam Auctions in 2010 (Beirut). ^[3]

References

1. ^ "Nazem al Jaafari, Contemporary Art in Syria, Atassi Gallery, Damascus 1998.
2. ^ Nazem Al Jaafari: the founding pioneer, Damascus 2006, p. 273. Dr. Ghazi Al Khalidi, Ministry of Culture
3. ^ artnet http://www.artnet.com/artists/nazem+al-jaafari/past-auction-results

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Name	Al Jaafari, Nazem
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Date of birth	1918
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