Biography
Arnaout was born in the Syrian capital of Damascus on 11 February 1936, to a family of Albanian descent. His family migrated from Kosovo during the Albanian migrations to Damascus and settled in the Diwaniya neighborhood. His mother was an Albanian poet. His early works demonstrate his multidisciplinary characteristics, merging graphic arts, painting, set design, costume design, and teaching, and exploring the intersections between these fields.
He participated in the first Damascus International Fair in 1954 at the age of 18. He later became the graphic designer for the fair’s posters, designing them for the Damascus International Fair over 10 times from 1968 to 1989, as well as for many cultural events. In 1960, he designed the entire visual identity of the Arab Syrian television. He opened his first painting exhibition in March 1961 at the al-Fann al-Hadith Gallery and created costumes and set designs for the theatre. After his first show, he was asked in an interview for the dailyAl Wahde what his opinion of modern art was: “I always get my subjects from the outside world, and even though I have begun to seriously break down form and get rid of the natural colour of things when I feel like it, I still think I get more from the outside world than I should.” In the mid-1950s, he shared his studio with artists Marwan Kassab Bachi (1934–2016) and Naim Ismail (1930–1979). The late 1950s and early 1960s proved a time of artistic and intellectual excitement for Arnaout. He won prestigious prizes for his work from a very young age, including the poster for the 7th Cotton Festival in Aleppo (مهرجان القطن السابع) and he designed the packaging for Syrian cigarette brands.
His artistic work underwent a significant shift, primarily due to his practice as a graphic designer. Arnaout's early paintings mark a transition from figuration to abstraction, influenced by the work of Paul Klee. Figurative characters with large oval eyes, often deep and dark, confront the viewer with elements inspired by Syrian textile motifs, ornamentation, and surrounding patterns. He employs the language of traditional architecture, modernised either by mixing geometry and abstraction or by simplifying forms. The predominant colours are bright, and the flat colours gradually replace the motif.
Arnaout's Al Khatt Al Arnaouti typeface, a perfect syncretism between tradition and modernity, became his trademark. He worked on and improved this typeface over two decades, and it played a significant role in his artistic journey. This typeface, which simplified lettering in calligraphy, transcended design and embraced words, meaning, and poetry. In a posthumous article, Hassan Kamal, the curator of the modern department of the National Museum of Damascus, explained this permeation of practices: “He carried a brush in one hand as an artist and a pen in the other as a writer and poet.” Yasmine Nachabe Taan, in her book Abdulkader Arnaout: Designing as Visual Poetry, pointed out that there are no boundaries between these fields. The artist nourished each of his practices as if they were a whole.
In 1962, he set off on a trip to Italy and studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, from which he graduated in 1964. In the early 1960s, Rome was a meeting point for artists from the Arab diaspora. He became friends with Kamal Boullata (1942–2019), a Palestinian artist with whom he shared a studio. Arnaout participated in the 32nd Venice Biennale as part of the Syrian pavilion. He won prizes for his posters (Primo Citta di Trevi and the first prize for poster of the 2a Mostra dell'Antiquariato Romano).
While in Rome, Arnaout contributed to Syrian publications, creating book covers, posters, and catalogues. He spent several years creating visual communications, including catalogs and posters, for modern art exhibitions at the National Museum of Damascus. Arnaout also designed catalogue covers for official exhibitions organised by the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance, as well as the Fine Arts Syndicate. Despite a successful career in Italy, he returned to Damascus in 1967. He attended the 9th Salon d'Automne at the National Museum of Damascus, held in the peculiar context of the Israeli invasion of Syria in June 1967. This war had a profound impact on many artists, including Arnaout, who would go on to adopt Arab nationalist and pro-Palestinian convictions. A few years later, in 1971, he produced a series of posters using the modern graphic style he had developed to promote his ideas and speak out against Israeli aggression.
In Damascus, Arnaout was involved with the creation of the Group of Ten (Jama'at al-Ashara), the idea emerged in 1965 and the first exhibition took place in 1969). This group, which included the artists Asaad Arabi (1941–), Ghayath Al-Akhras (1937–), Naim Ismail (1930–1979), Nazir Naba'a (1938–2016), and Elias Zayat (1935–2022), shared a view of modern Arab art in search of its identity. They believed in blending geometry, abstraction, calligraphy, and form, and advocated for art that serves society. Their exhibitions in Damascus, Beirut, and Paris were a platform for them to showcase their collective vision and the principles they stood for.
As Syrian art critic Tarek Al-Sharif notes on his 1967 return, Arnaout did not find what he sought in Rome. He realised that abstract and artistic inspirations could be found in everyday and popular Damascene life, as well as in traditional Arabic books. Furthermore, it may have been a sense of solidarity with Arab artists that Arnaout had come to see. He participated in the founding of the Syrian Artists' Union and the Union of Arab Artists in Damascus in 1971.
Arnaout studied in Paris between 1971 and 1973, and he graduated from the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs. He developed graphic tools that would later be fundamental to his practice. According to the artist's son, Sami Arnaout, it was in Paris that Arnaout started nurturing a technique for his graphic practice, which he registered in 1985: the use and superposition of photographic film to create his poster templates.
Before his stay in Paris, Arnaout started a position at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus. From 1969 to 1971, he held the position of Instructor. Back in Damascus in 1974, he was appointed Chair of the Decorative Arts department, where he shared his modern vision with young artists for twenty years as a teacher and professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Damascus. He founded the Department of Visual Communication, which he headed until his passing. His graphic and visual work also resonated internationally, with exhibitions in Paris, Rome, Pristina, and Warsaw. Speaking more than six languages, Arnaout was quite open-minded about different cultures and approaches to communication and thinking.
With posters that will go down in history for their daring and modernism, the 1980s proved to be an incredibly prolific time in his work. These included the poster for the 10th Mediterranean Games (Latakia, 1987), an interpretation of the Ugarit alphabet, and the 4th Palmyra Festival in 1985, inspired by a relief of the temple entrance. The artist revived his visual language by using elements of reality, geometry, and symbols. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he designed many corporate logos and visual identities.
This multidisciplinary artist, a founding figure of Syrian and Arab modernity, died prematurely in Damascus on 13 August 1992 at the age of 56.
