THE PORTRAIT OF MASRI (RITRATTO DI MASRI)

2009, Beirut. The city is experiencing a difficult period, a few years ago it came out of the Second Lebanon War, hardships and economic difficulties are very evident. Tripoli, the birthplace of the painter EL MASRI HAYSSAM AHMAD, was also a victim of the poverty that led to the conflict. Masri chose to leave his homeland in 1990, when it was clear to him that he could not express his art there. A place subjugated by war, ever greater poverty and an ever more uncertain future were the reasons for his trip. But which destination to choose? Obviously Italy and more precisely Florence, the city of art par excellence. Here she decided to marry IRENE, of Norwegian nationality, mother of her 2 children HOUSSAM and OMAR. Despite having obtained an Italian passport, he has never forgotten that he is Lebanese, indeed it is his pride. To each of his clients he says “remember that a Lebanese made this painting for you!”. This is because at the same time he loves the country that gave him birth, and the wonderful one that welcomed him and made him grow artistically. Florence is his new home, but every year he returns to Tripoli to visit the other members of his family. Just on a hot summer day, on 23 August 2013, while waiting for the Imam to enter his mosque, he was overwhelmed by the fury of a double attack that shook the city causing 20 deaths and hundreds of injured. Fate, however, spared Masri's life by imprinting an indelible memory in his memory. He is well liked and appreciated in Florence, his works would be too if it weren't for the fact that the Italian market does not prefer that kind of art form. The real sustenance comes from America, a goal he decides to reach after 26 years of living in Florence. A painful but necessary choice for his artistic and professional success. Masri is ready. He is ready to start a new work, surrounded by his self-portraits. The colors of red, black, yellow predominate and are an expression of the artist's interior contrast, of his anger. He moves his hands nervously on the canvas, his breathing becomes labored, his gaze fixed and determined. The harsh experience of the attack is strongly present in his work: the disfigured face, the expression, the rigid and inflexible strokes, the dramatic use of colors. The painting is finished, the silence pervades the room, the artist has finally reached the quiet, at least until the preparation of the next opera.