Alfred Basbous (1924 – 2006)
Alfred Basbous was born in Rachana, Lebanon, in 1924. His first exhibition in Beirut, at the Alecco Saab Gallery in 1958, marked the beginning of a long and successful career as a sculptor.

In 1960, he received a scholarship from the French government and became a pupil of the sculptor René Collamarini at L'Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1961, his works were included in the International Sculpture Exhibition at the Musée Rodin, in Paris. From 1994 to 2004, Basbous organised the International Symposium of Sculpture in Rachana, where famous sculptors from around the world were invited to create, sculpt and exhibit their works alongside his own.

Throughout his life, Basbous won many awards including the "Prix de l'Orient" in Beirut in 1963 and the Biennale prize in Alexandria in 1974. When he died in 2006, the President of the Lebanese Republic awarded him the Lebanese Order of Merit as a public honour.

Basbous’ works express a lifelong exploration of the human form and its abstract properties. Focused on the aesthetic principles of shape, movement, line and material, his sculptures display a deeply ingrained sincerity and a search for the essence of beauty. Working in the tradition of sculptors such as Arp, Brâncuşi and Moore, he explores the potential of noble materials including bronze, wood and marble to express the sensuality and purity of the human form.

The works of Alfred Basbous are part of numerous public collections throughout the world, including the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Musée Rodin in Paris, the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan and the Modern and Contemporary Art Museum (MACAM) in Lebanon, among others. His monumental works are present in the public areas of Beirut and many Lebanese cities.