About The Project
The Lost Paintings, a Prelude to Return is an imagined recreation of the last exhibition held in Palestine by Palestinian-Lebanese artist Maroun Tomb, which opened on November 29, 1947 in Haifa.
The 1947 opening coincided with the very day in which the UN approved the Partition Plan of Palestine, igniting the war and events that will later become known as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe, and during which, some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homeland. Shortly after the opening, Tomb and his family were, too, forced into exile and never allowed to return to their homes. The fate of the 53 oil paintings presented in the exhibition, as well as most of Tomb’s pre-1948 body of work, was lost to the war and its pillage.
The Lost Painting will convene 53 artists from across Palestine and the diaspora to each create their own interpretation of a single lost painting from the original exhibition, based on the few remaining records – the invitation to the 1947 opening and an inventory of the paintings that were displayed in it. While each artist brings a unique perspective, together The Lost Paintings is an effort to resurrect what was lost to the Nakba in a humble prelude to the refugees’ anticipated return, and an effort to reclaim a space for making it a reality.
The project showcases the forefront of contemporary Palestinian art from across the world, bringing together emerging young artists, alongside established contemporaries and celebrated pioneers. Tracing the memory of paintings lost to the Nakba, The Lost Paintings examines loss and destruction on one hand, and the power of imagination and art in shaping new futures on the other.
About Maroun Tomb
Maroun Tomb was born in Haifa in 1911 to a Palestinian mother and a Lebanese father. He spent his childhood in the az-Zawara neighbourhood on the shore of the Mediterranean. After his father passed away in 1936, the family moved to the Wadi an-Nisnas neighbourhood at the centre of town. Tomb studied at the Italian School of Applied Arts in Haifa. In 1933, his work was displayed at the first Arab Exhibition in Jerusalem, an international fair that showcased the most advanced agricultural and industrial developments alongside art and crafts from Palestine and the Levant.
In Haifa, Tomb apprenticed with Herman Struck, a Jewish-German artist who was renowned for his etchings and printing techniques. To support his art career, Tomb earned his living working at the British railroad company. His first solo-exhibition opened at the Carmelite Building in the city, and his second, in 1947, was also his last in Palestine before being forced into exile during the Nakba. Tomb’s travels in the region, both for family vacations in Lebanon to visit relatives, and to Egypt, inspired his painting and much of his work deals with the landscapes and architecture of the region.
At 36 years old and never married, Tomb was at one of his career’s heights when the war broke out. Haifa succumbed to Zionist forces on April 22, 1948. One week later, Tomb and his family left by boat to Lebanon, never allowed to return to their home in Palestine.
In Tripoli, Lebanon, Tomb worked at the Iraqi Petroleum Company as the head of the Art Department and later opened his own graphic design office in Beirut. In 1949 he married Georgette Khodr with whom he had five children. Tomb’s art career continued as the main axis of his being throughout his life. In it, he often utilized oil painting, Chinese ink and etching, and particularly specialized in aquarelle. During the Lebanese civil war, Tomb once again lost the bulk of his work, this time to a fire that consumed his apartment in Beirut. Tomb passed away of a heart attack only days before the planned opening of his 10th solo exhibition, at the Galerie Damo in Beirut, in April 1981. Tomb left behind a vast body of work that was an inspiration to other artists and especially his son Fouad who followed in his father's footsteps as an artist. The Fouad & May Tomb Foundation for the Arts was founded in 2020 to preserve the art and legacy of Maroun Tomb.
