Tayseer Sharaf

(1939 – 2001)

 One of the most distinguished contemporary artists, who had enriched the cultural life in Palestine throughout his 25 years of art.  Taysir Sharaf was an active member of the Palestinian art movement since 1980, founding member of the Jerusalem Quartet visual artists group and had held the position of Vice president of the Palestinian Artists League in 1998.

 Taysir Sharaf was born in Jerusalem in 1939. Between the alleys, arches and domes of the city he was raised and has his visual memory and conscious engraved.  After the 1948 war, he flew with his family to Egypt where he completed his high school in Alexandria with a degree in Business Administration.

 Afterwards, he came back to Jerusalem.  It was five years later, precisely, after 1967 war when his art journey started to take a more tangible path. Jerusalem was occupied.  This event had a tremendous effect on his soul.  Painting became his method of letting out his rage, sadness and feeling of defeat. During this period, he started realizing his talent.  Books, trials, and mistakes were his tools to explore the basic techniques of painting.

 The progeny of his first trials was presented in 1980 at the YWCA hall in Jerusalem; in an exhibition that was a real success, both on social and cultural levels and was considered his first step in a 26 years journey in art.

 The journey had produced more than 500 pieces of art distributed now in private collections, galleries and art centres in Palestine, the Arab counties, and around the world.

 Sharaf had presented his art in many exhibitions, personal and joint in Palestine, the Arab countries, and the around the world.

 Taysir Sharaf had always considered himself a researcher in the wide world of art.  His drawing pencil stayed between his magical fingers until the last days he was able to hold one. On the 14^th of August 2001, he left this world, leaving a rich heritage for the culture and art in Palestine.