One of the greatest of Lebanese artists, Paul Guiragossian was born in 1926 in Jerusalem. He began painting as a child and started his early training in 1942 in Studio Yarkon in Jerusalem.
After the Second World War in 1948 Paul migrated to Lebanon with his mother and brother, wher he got married and lived for the rest of his life (1993), having become Lebanon’s most celebrated painter, a renowned he retains to his day.
In 1956, he received a scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and in 1958 participated in the Biennale of Florence after which he received an invitation from the French government to participate in the Biennale of Paris in 1961 where he resided and worked until 1962 and exhibited his works at the Gallery Mouffle. Paul returned to Paris in 1989 for an exhibition at the Unesco and resided and painted some of his largest masterpieces for a year. He remained between Beirut and Paris travelling and exhibiting his works until 1992 when he had his first solo show ever in the IMA (Institut du Monde Arabe) that went on for 3 months.
With over 50 solo shows and many collective shows worldwide, and producing over 5,000 works of art, on his final day (November 20,1993) Paul painted his last painting which remains unsigned in the family collection, and admitted to his daughter Manuella “I finally reached what I’ve always wanted…brought the old and the new together…it’s my best work yet