Louay Kayyali

b. 1934 — d. 1978

Louay Kayyali (1934–1978) was a Syrian modern artist. Kayyali was born in Aleppo, Syria in 1934 and studied art in the Accademia di Belle Arti after having studied at the Al-Tajhiz School where his work was first exhibited in 1952. He met Syrian artist Wahbi Al-Hariri there and the two would share a friendship for the rest of Kayyali's life. Al-Hariri would become his mentor as he was for artist Fateh Moudarres that Hariri introduced to Kayyali in 1955. Moudarress and Kayyali would together represent Syrian modern art at the Venice Biennial Fair. He suffered from depression and died in 1978 from burns incurred from his bed catching fire, reportedly from a cigarette. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 1961 and returned to Syria where he started his career as a fine arts professor at Damascus University where Fateh Moudarres also taught. That same year, the International Modern Art Hall of Damascus hosted his exhibit of 28 oil paintings on canvas and 30 sketches.