These twenty-two digital off-set prints, including a double-page spread featuring an artist’s proof, are taken from a book illustrated by Aref El Rayess which was published under the title The Road to Peace. These images explore the ravages of war, notably in this case, the Lebanese Civil War and are deeply personal interpretations of the events which unfolded. Taking inspiration from Picasso’s Guernica and Goya’s The Disasters of War, the original charcoal drawings inspired a set of etchings and further digital off-set prints signed by the artist. An example is in the British Museum, London (inv. no. 2015,6035.1.1-38); which helped in the identification of each scene represented here (and originally titled by the artist), notably:

‘Petroleum, the Beast, and the Masses’
‘Crying over the past’
‘Waiting for Leadership’
‘Astronaut Arms Dealers’
‘This is some people after the battle’
‘Bloody Sunday’
‘An Understanding’
‘When intellectuals become bystanders’
‘The Watchful Eye’
‘Who is above and who is below?’
‘The Martyr’s Coffin’
‘In search of the service stamp’
‘The Devoted Ones’
‘Woman of the Country’
‘In the Third World’
‘It always continues there’
‘Scenes from the Theatre’
‘Problem Solver’
‘This is some people before the battle’
‘This is some people during the battle’
‘They awaken’
‘Expansion and Production’

Born in Aley, Mount Lebanon, in 1928, and self-taught for much of his early career, Aref El Rayess grew up to become an award-winning artist and a pioneer in the field of arts in Lebanon. A master of sculpture and painting, El Rayess has forged artistic and political initiatives within the greater Middle East. Holding his first exhibition in 1948, El Rayess spent most of his adolescence traveling throughout Africa and later settling in Senegal for a short period. This move had a strong influence on the artist, with Western African folkloric and mystical motifs becoming reoccurring themes in works of this period. On his return to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, the artist continued to explore his experiences of Africa through his artwork, but this time through the practice of etching. Rayess moved to Florence two years later on a scholarship provided by the Italian government. In the years 1957 to 1960, El Rayess worked between Lebanon, Florence and Rome whilst studying Phoenician, Assyrian, Sumerian and Pharaonic art, and his interest in the ancient Semitic art forms began to emerge in his oeuvre. In 1963, Rayess left Italy for Lebanon, where he truly flourished as an artist and strengthened his relationship with his native land. Whilst a professor at the Lebanese University, Rayess founded the Fine Arts Department and along with his friend, Janine Rubeiz, founded Dar El Fan (The House of Art and Culture) in 1967. Involved in the political sphere of the Arab World through conferences and exhibitions, Rayess published a manifesto in 1972 titled With Whom and Against Whom. The drawings from which these digital off-set prints after lithographs were produced whilst the artist was living in Algeria.