The late plastic artist Mamdouh Qashlan … the ambassador of Damascus to the world
The late artist Mamdouh Qashlan had a unique Damascene identity and excelled in drawing the details of Damascus which he loved and remained loyal to until his death.
Since his beginnings, with a distinguished artistic personality, he was keen on keeping originality during his long artistic experience on the one hand and kept pace with contemporary arts on the other hand, until he became one of the most prominent Syrian plastic artists in the world.
“The master artist, Mamdouh Qashlan, was born in the popular “ SoukSarouja” neighborhood in the old Damascus in 1929.However, the images most firmly established in his memory were from the Kiwan area on the outskirts of Damascus where his family moved to live there a few years later ” the critic Sa’ad Al-Qassem, who holds a postgraduate diploma in fine arts told e-Syria ( blog).
The pioneering artist “Abdul Aziz Nashwati”, according to Al-Qassem, taught the late Qashlan the first principles of drawing, then he moved to Rome to study photography, graphics and medal sculpting.
In 1957 Qashlan ‘s first exhibition was held including oil paintings in addition to engraving and ceramics works , which were displayed for the first time in a Syrian art exhibition.
Following the visit of the Minister of Education to the exhibition, he decided to transfer “Mamdouh Qashlan” to “Cairo” to benefit from his new artistic experience to begin a new rich stage in his artistic career.
Al-Qassem pointed to the late artist’s distinguished career in art and education and he was one of the founders of the Syndicate of Fine Arts.
He added that his paintings of the Syrian environment and architecture drew the attention of the world , which made the UNICEF office in Damascus keen annually to acquire a set of cards bearing his paintings to be sent as greeting cards. Al-Qassem indicated that UNICEF printed a number of his paintings on its famous cards to be distributed all over the world, and it was the only time that UNICEF printed paintings by a Syrian artist, and one of the rare times that it printed paintings by an Arab artist.
The critic added“Qashlan was the author of several art books on the experiences of a number of artists in addition to the Syrian plastic movement during half a century .
Mamdouh Qashlan’s paintings are exhibited in the People’s Palace, the National Museum in Damascus, Dummar Museum, Aleppo Museum, Beirut Museums, Sursock, Algiers, Cairo, Tunis, and Rabat, Varna, Titograd (Montenegro), Sofia, Kabrovo, Targovisht (Bulgaria), the French city of Lille, in addition to private collections.
After more than a hundred solo exhibitions in different parts of the world, MamdouhQashlan continued his creative career at the Ebla Gallery, which he founded in 1980 dedicating his active presence in the Syrian plastic field as one of the most prominent artists.
It is worth mentioning that the artist Mamdouh Qashlan, who died on August the 29th , 2022, received many national certificates of appreciation and awards. He held 104 exhibitions in various parts of the world and 15 international museums bought a number of his paintings. The late artist was one of the founders of the Syndicate of Fine Arts and the General Union of Arab Plastic Artists and a member of the International Council of Museums of UNESCO, where he was assigned to dozens of art societies.
RawaaGhanam