64 Dr SAMIr SAleeBy The Quintessential PaTron 65 I n the summer of 1928, the elder men of the Saleeby clan – a prominent lebanese family from Souk el-Gharb in Mount lebanon – gathered in Cliff House, a sprawling villa overlooking the village of Btalloun and home to Khalil Saleeby, the artist considered the ‘father’ of Modern art in lebanon. the villa, almost 1000 metres above the Mediterranean, was Saleeby’s retreat and where he revelled in the colours of the landscape that comprise his body of work. It was also where he painted portraits of his Flemish-German wife and muse, Carrie Aude, who was the subject of several of Saleeby’s nude pictures – a daring endeavour at the time, but one that he was able to get away with given his membership as one of the country’s bourgeoisie. this was lebanon in the early 20th century, a state under French colonial rule that still employed a feudal system. Saleeby’s financial stature allowed him the luxury of being far removed from the scene – he first studied at the Syrian Protestant College in 1886 (now the American University of Beirut, AUB) and continued in edinburgh, where he met American portrait artist john Singer Sargent and subsequently travelled to london, Paris and Philadelphia in pursuit of and passion for art. When he returned to Beirut in 1900, Saleeby set up an atelier in the lebanese capital, facing his alma mater’s Main Gate and which today is home to a prime location for fast food giant McDonald’s. His reputation as a predominantly portrait artist grew as he painted dignitaries, members of the intelligentsia and villagers alike. the atelier became a meeting point for artists and intellectuals and was where Saleeby taught two of lebanon’s celebrated Modern Masters – César Gemayel and omar onsi. As the mountain breeze swept through the pine and fir trees that envelop Cliff House, the Saleeby family elders sat solemn in that fateful summer of 1928, surrounded by the artist’s personal collection of paintings. the father of Modern lebanese art and his beloved wife had been murdered following a dispute over water rights in Btalloun. As he died childless, the clan had assembled to discuss the late artist’s inheritance. the story of one of the Arab world’s most prized collections of Modern art begins with Dr Shaheen Saleeby, who bought the entire set of his rela- tive’s paintings and donated Cliff House to the village of myrna ayad meets Dr Samir Saleeby in Beirut – an ophthalmologist whose vision to preserve his ancestor’s artistic legacy has brought about the donation of a priceless collection of Modern lebanese works to an academic institution. Dr Samir Saleeby with prints of artworks from the collection he donated to the American University of Beirut. Left wall, from left to right: Khalil Saleeby. (Detail) Dr Simon Khoury . 1900. Oil on canvas. 55 x 45 cm; Saliba Douaihy. (Detail) Sheikh Mountain Dignitary . 1945. Oil on canvas. 61 x 46 cm; Saliba Douaihy. Village Maid Sifting Rice . 1941. Oil on canvas. 64 x 46 cm; Saliba Douaihy. Druze Woman . 1946. Oil on canvas. 46 x 38 cm. Right wall, clockwise from top: Three works by Khalil Saleeby: Intimate Confidence . 1916. Oil on canvas. 46 x 38 cm. L’angelique 1921. Oil on canvas. 46 x 38 cm; Infinity . 1916. Oil on canvas. 46 x 38 cm. Photography by Mansour Dib. Art PAtron 66 Art PAtron Btalloun. over 25 oil and watercolour paintings by Khalil were transported to Shaheen’s apart- ment in the four-storey Saleeby Building on Akkawi Street in the Achrafieh district of Bei- rut. Here they remained until 2012, excluding a brief stay at the lebanese embassy in london in 1982 with the onset of the Israeli invasion. Upon Shaheen’s death, the artworks and Salee- by Building were passed on to his son, Samir, a physician like his father who bequeathed the 60- piece-strong collection – including paintings by Modern lebanese artists that he had acquired over the years – to AUB last year, in what is now the rose and Shaheen Saleeby Museum, named after his parents. tHe ArtIStS’ PAtron It is 85 years after the death of Khalil that I meet Samir at his home in Saleeby Building, a charm- ing structure on Akkawi Street whose high- ceilinged apartments and floor-length windows invite in a beautiful stream of April light. the sa- lon is dotted with Murano glass pieces filled with easter chocolates in shiny wrapping, set against well-preserved old-school velvet furniture. I am surprised to find all the artworks – supposedly at AUB – on the walls. “I had high resolution im- ages taken of the pieces and printed on canvas,” grins Samir. “I don’t want to part with them just yet.” the 87 year-old retired ophthalmologist is a handsome man whose features evoke those of his ancestor Khalil. the artist’s self-portraits reveal the resemblance – a similarity confirmed by Gemayel, who first met Samir in Paris in the 1940s. “He hugged me immediately and said ‘goodness, it feels like I am seeing Khalil right now!’” smiles Samir. “there wasn’t a museum we didn’t visit. César explained everything to me and we did the same tours in london.” the phy- sician savoured such encounters which fuelled his passion for art – a fervour that stemmed from his earliest childhood memories growing up in a home whose walls were adorned with Khalil’s paintings. “I remember gazing at them as an in- fant,” he recalls. “I didn’t understand what they were but they were beautiful to me. I felt that these men and women were people I could talk to, as though they were real.” “i knew what good art is from gemayel and onsi and i knew immediately that douaihy had an incredible future.” 67 Art PAtron In the years following Khalil’s death, artists and enthusiasts from all over the world would call on the Saleeby family to view the paintings – an appeal largely spawned by Khalil’s travels, exhibitions and encounters with masters such as Pierre-Auguste renoir, Gustave Courbet and Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes. “I remember thinking that there must be an urge, a neces- sity to view these images,” says Samir, who went on to complete a Bachelor’s degree from AUB in 1945. During his undergraduate years he took art classes with the famed Moustafa Far- roukh and went on to acquire works by him. Farroukh became a close friend, whose ses- sions proved useful in the doctor’s career. “Back then, you had to sketch something out,” explains Samir. “there were no scans or laser equipment and I have to say, I have quite a nice collection of anatomical drawings.” encouraged by his par- ents to pursue specialisation in the USA, Samir joined Duke University’s School of Medicine in north Carolina, a state that was home to many members of the Saleeby family, including a string of doctors, engineers and even a senator. Incidentally, north Carolina’s Museum of Art had acquired two seminal works by Saliba Douaihy in the 1960s, sold at a Christie’s Dubai auction in March 2012; Samir was yet to meet the Modern lebanese artist, whose works would come to feature predominantly in his growing collection. Aside from a brief work stint in Geneva, Samir shuffled between his practice in Beirut and lectures at the new york eye and ear Infir- mary for three months a year between 1960–75. It was during this era that he met Douaihy in the Big Apple, though the Master’s reputation pre- ceded him. “I met and treated Paul Guiragossian in Beirut and he praised Douaihy,” says Samir. “He said that he’s one to watch and people will talk about him the way they do Van Gogh.” Douaihy and Samir met in 1960 in new york, by which time the artist had abandoned Impressionistic paintings of lebanon and, inspired by the Ab- stract expressionists of the period, had begun simplifying his homeland’s landscape into geo- metric forms jolted by energetic colours. “I knew what good art is from Gemayel and onsi and I knew immediately that Douaihy had an incred- ible future,” adds Samir. After several visits to the artist’s attic and a “failed attempt” at a por- This page: Khalil Saleeby.(Detail) American University of Beirut (College Hall) 1920. Oil on canvas. 81 x 60 cm. Facing page: Omar Onsi. The Cameleers . 1924. Watercolour on paper. 12 x 17 cm. 68 amazingly, in 1982 a group of Japanese businessmen flew to beirut and called on Samir to view Khalil’s paintings and offered him a handsome sum of $33 million for the works. “i told them to keep the money and take the collection on the condition that they would build a museum to house it in Lebanon.” 69 Art PAtron This page, from top: Works by Saliba Douaihy. Maaloula . 1954. Oil on canvas. 45 x 35 cm; In Search for Truth 1965. Oil on canvas. 23 x 30 cm. Facing page: Dr Samir Saleeby holds a work by Moustafa Farroukh. (Detail) Souk El-Gharb .1942. Watercolour on carton. 35 x 25 cm. Photography by Mansour Dib. trait, Samir bought 40 works from Douaihy “all in one shot!” He points to In Search for Truth , a vibrant 23 x 30 cm work. “I was there when he was painting it,” he says. “He’d use scotch tape to make the lines finer. He told me that these were important pieces and that I should buy some, so I bought eight.” their friendship and Samir’s ownership of numer- ous pieces have made the physician quite the connoisseur – even today, he is approached by collectors, dealers and auctions alike to verify the authenticity of Douaihy’s works. trIAlS AnD trIBUlAtIonS In 1975, Samir moved back to Beirut and built Saleeby Hospital, a 60-bed infirmary adjacent to the family-owned building in Achrafieh. Sectarian and regional tensions had peaked, and on 5 january 1977, a bomb exploded on Akka- wi Street, killing 72, leaving a four-metre crater and shat- tering Saleeby Hospital. A few months later, on 16 March, Samir’s brother was killed in central Beirut on the same day that Druze leader Kamal jumblatt was assassinated, spread- ing more violence across the country. “And we’re still here,” sighs Samir. “lebanon is the most beautiful country in the world. We never left and never wanted to leave.” With the onset of increasing conflict and a destroyed hospital, he chose to convert his residential building’s lower floor into an operating theatre. Amazingly, in 1982 a group of japanese businessmen flew to Beirut and called on Samir to view Khalil’s paintings and offered him a handsome sum of $33 million for the works. “I told them to keep the money and take the collec- tion on the condition that they would build a museum to house it in lebanon,” adds Samir. Against the country’s crip- pling violence and despair in the same year with the Israeli invasion and Un-labelled genocide of the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps, Samir arrived at three major deci- sions vis-à-vis Khalil’s paintings and other Modern lebanese artworks in the collection – First, the pieces had to be safe- guarded, and so they were transported via a chartered flight to the lebanese embassy in london; second, a monograph celebrating Khalil’s art was necessary in paying tribute to the 70 Art PAtron This page: (Detail) Khalil Saleeby. Heliopolis Palace, Cairo 1914. Oil on canvas. 130 x 98 cm. Facing page: César Gemayel. (Detail) Samira Saleeby. 1952. Oil on canvas. 39 x 33 cm All images courtesy American University of Beirut, unless otherwise specified. 71 Art PAtron late great artist; and lastly, the creation of a muse- um that would house these works was essential. the 1980s and its subsequent decade, however, proved politically, economically and socially chal- lenging for lebanon in the face of heightened conflict. “We first considered buying an old pal- ace to house the works, but the war rolled in and all plans were halted,” explains Samir. “that’s when we thought about an academic institution and I always knew that AUB was the answer.” the physi- cian persevered and published a monograph on Khalil’s works in 1986, encouraged by those who felt that the “[artist’s] heir ought to do something to preserve his legacy.” the book prompted a phone call from then-AUB President john Water- bury, who was considering the establishment of an art centre and sought financial contribution and the donation of works. though Waterbury suggested the dedication of West Hall’s sixth floor roof for the artworks, Samir wasn’t interested. “Aside from the fact that it was a space on campus and therefore inaccessible to the public, the area couldn’t fit the Douaihys alone!” he exclaims. “I “being an ophthalmolo- gist helped me a great deal you see. i have laser vision and i see things in a different way than you do.” told Waterbury that I’d rather keep the collec- tion at home and open my house to the public.” An enDUrInG leGACy Samir’s commitment to a museum named af- ter his parents begs the questions: why not sell or pass this onto his children or donate to the state of lebanon? “By selling them, I am selling a heritage and I don’t want to do that. their worth is in their unity,” he says matter-of-factly. “And I wouldn’t want to get involved with the lebanese government.” By this time, other universities keen on housing the collection on their campuses had begun approaching Samir – an impressive feat in a country with no ‘national’ collection of its Mod- ern art, save for the Sursock Museum. AUB’s President Peter Dorman and richard Brow, Vice President for University Advancement stepped into the picture, appointing Sotheby’s to appraise the collection. the auction house came back with a $100 million price tag. Brow made Samir an offer: the collection would be tem- porarily housed in a 200-metre exhibition space lo- cated in an off-campus hospice in Hamra until the rose and Shaheen Saleeby Museum would be final- ised on AUB grounds in 2020. the deal was sealed. “When Sotheby’s came back with the figure, people told me I was crazy to donate the collection to AUB,” laughs Samir. “I told them ‘you think they’re coming with me to the grave?’ If I got $1 billion, I would have still said keep them and just build a dedicated mu- seum.” Khalil Saleeby (1870-1928): A Founder of Mod- ern Art in Lebanon opened last june to much acclaim, as crowds from far and wide flocked to see works by a Modern Master who pushed the confines of conservative artistic practice. Samir heaves a sigh of relief. “My job here is almost done,” he says. What about buying more art? “I just bought a piece yesterday!” he exclaims and rushes to bring it. “It’s by a young chap and I’m always happy to support emerging artists,” he says. “Being an ophthalmologist helped me a great deal you see. I have laser vision and I see things in a different way than you do.”