Fayez Barakat

Fayez Barakat (born 1949) is a Palestinian, naturalised American artist, and a collector and dealer of ancient art.
Biography
Early life
Fayez Barakat was born in 1949 in Hebron, the son of Sadi Barakat.
As a boy Barakat worked with the renowned British archaeologist Dame Prof. Kathleen Kenyon, sorting and identifying shards from her excavations in the 'City of David' to the immediate south of the Temple Mount, Jerusalem between 1952 and 1958.
As his father wanted him to stay with the family and build on his interests in ancient art, Barakat instead attended courses in biblical and Middle Eastern archaeology at the Hebrew Union College under the prominent archaeologists Nelson Glueck and William Denver. He familiarised himself with archaeological journals, excavation reports, and sources in art history, developing also a keen interest in ancient coinage.
Rise to prominence
In 2007 he opened a gallery in Abu Dhabi, heralding the sale of museum-quality non-Islamic antiquities in the United Arab Emirates for the first time.
Barakat defies the concept of abstract art itself, since every canvas is an impression of his thoughts, feelings, and soul. He seeks to break away from traditional representations of physical objects by exploring form and colour. His style is characterised by a triumph of chromaticism, being based on a palette of 30 to 40 colours. Some critics have seen in the dense combination of colours the influence of Marc Chagall, whom Barakat also befriended in Jerusalem in the 1960s. His paintings are mostly completed between 02:00 and 05:00, or in free time he makes from managing his galleries, and are inspired by visions he has at night.
Published catalogues
* "Fayez Barakat: Paintings", ed. by Hend El Saket (ISBN 987-0-9567936-1-4)
* "Fayez Barakat Beyond Fantasy", ed. by Olivia Tait and Laura Di Nicolantonio (ISBN 987-0-9567936-2-1)

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