Louay Kayali

Louay Kayali was born in Aleppo in 1934 and died in 1978, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome after receiving a grant from the Ministry of Knowledge. During this period, he came into contact with many artists, notably Fateh Moudarres, who presented their work together, including their participation in the Venice Biennial in 1960. After Kayali return to Syria in 1961, he taught for two years at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University, and participated in exhibitions and received wide acclaim. Starting in the mid-1960s, he began to suffer from a severe depression that reflected on his art, which was manifested by dark and dreary works in which he used coal. He did not finally get rid of depression and suffered it on and off for the rest of his life, which adversely affected his ability to draw. He travelled to Rome in 1977 in the hope of regaining his interest in painting and overcoming persistent depression, but returned defeated several months later, suffering from addiction to debilitators. Kayali died in 1978 from severe burns suffered as a result of a reported fire in his bed caused by a tobacco roll.