Sliman Mansour Dies at 79, Leaving Palestinian Art a Symbol of Resistance
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 29
Sliman Mansour Dies at 79, Leaving Palestinian Art a Symbol of Resistance
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 29
Summary
Sliman Mansour died Aug. 24 at a Jerusalem hospital of respiratory failure, his son said, ending a half-century career that made him one of Palestinian art’s defining figures.
Thousands of prints of his 1973 work “Jamal al-Mahamel” spread his imagery across homes and refugee camps, while recurring motifs such as olive groves, orange trees and watermelons tied his art to displacement and resistance.
During the first intifada, Mansour boycotted Israeli art supplies and turned to clay and straw, using the cracks in those works to mirror what he called the fragmentation of Palestinian geography.
Beyond painting, he taught at Al-Quds University, co-founded the League of Palestinian Artists in 1973 and helped build institutions that nurtured younger Palestinian artists.
Even after a 2021 stroke, Mansour kept working; his nearly 40-foot 2024 piece for the Palestinian Museum became his largest work, and he asked only that a fig tree be planted in his name.