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28
WINTER
2012
On July 7, 1928, Khalil Saleeby and
his American born wife, Carrie, were
returning home from a day at the beach.
The childless couple was devoted to each
other. Suddenly, two shots rang out in
the air. One killed Saleeby and the other
killed his wife.
In a few seconds, the life of one of the
most influential painters of the late 19th
and early 20th century ended.The cou-
ple’s death sent shock waves throughout
the country. Saleeby had been hailed as
the founder of the Lebanese Renaissance.
His paintings – especially of Lebanese
rural life - were gaining much importance
in the international art arena. He was also
a particularly controversial painter, one
that introduced the figurative paintings
of nudes into the still restrictive Lebanese
society.
The world of art had attracted Saleeby
since his boyhood days in his hometown
village of Btalloun near the summer resort
of Bhamdoun. He would spend his time
in the family orchards drawing endlessly
with the butts of burned matches. After
repeatedly discouraging their only child
from ‘wasting’ time drawing, his parents
finally sent him to Beirut to attend the
American and British missionary schools.
But that didn’t stop the young Saleeby
from drawing. While attending the Syrian
Protestant College (now AUB), he would
draw his classmates and sceneries of the
mountains and the sea – for a fee. By the
time he graduated in 1890, he had earned
enough to travel and study in Edinburgh.
From there he moved to the US, where
he met and married the love of his life,
Carrie. In 1900, the couple moved to
Lebanon. In Beirut, he set up an Atelier
just across from AUB’s main gate (today’s
McDonalds) and became the teacher and
mentor of then still novice artists, includ-
ing Omar Onsi and César Gemayel.
Nostalgic for his hometown, he purchased
a piece of land and built his dream home.
It was this move that eventually killed
him.
A dispute over water erupted between
him and his neighbors. A dispute that
somehow couldn’t be resolved. In anger,
Saleeby blocked the water which ran
through his land and stubbornly refused
to backtrack.
And so it was on that fateful July day
that thugs from his village gunned him
and Carrie down. Saleeby was 58 years
old. His killers were caught. One was
sentenced to death and the others served
prison time.
Forty years later, Dr.
Samir Saleeby ‘43
opened the door of his clinic to see an
older man at his doorstep.The IC gradu-
ate was a renowned physician and was
running his own hospital (Saleeby Hospi-
tal in Ashrafieh and is credited with being
the first doctor to do a corneal transplant
operation in the country and has since
performed hundreds of them.
On that day, however, the doctor didn’t
The Museum:
IC graduate donates priceless art collection to AUB