Artist: Samir Sammoun

Violin: le Violon Enchante (The Enchanted Violin)

Inspiration Statement: “My inspiration comes from home town JOUN in Lebanon. On one face of the Violin I painted my own olive grove before harvest; on the other a wheat field and one can see my olive grove in the background. It is a wonderful summer day where music is already filling the atmosphere and I can hear the violin in the air.”

BIO: Born in a quaint Lebanese village perched atop the Chouf Mountain, internationally recognized painter Samir Sammoun vividly recalls the colourful Mediterranean landscape of his childhood. Possessing a unique postimpressionist style and technique, Sammoun is a great colorist by nature. Using a very rich palette of up to 30 tones and shades, he employs  soft, round brushes and works mainly on rough jute and linen canvas, strong material that is capable of holding the generous amount of oil colors used to create his romantic yet dynamic compositions. As the artist puts it, “I try to make the person looking at my painting feel the color of the sky, the temperature of the air, and the breeze in the apple trees or the wheat stalks.”  The rhythmic gesture combines grace and spontaneity, and delicate touches  highlight each element. “At times, it is the canvas that seems to evolve on its own. It is through this process that I feel I am playing with the fate of my renderings on the canvas. And it is from this inspiration that I feel I am the one to harness the fate of what is to follow.” Sammoun’s work can be found in the permanent museum collections of Art Gallery of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Marc-Aurèle Fortin Museum bot of Montréal, Québec, the Latino American Museum, Pomona , LA, California, and the Plattsburgh Sate University Art Museum, Plattsburgh, New York, as well as significant private collections across the globe. Represented by Galerie d’Orsay, Sammoun’s works can be viewed in the gallery or by visiting:  www.galerie-dorsay.com.