Dobiaschofsky
“Landscape of Damascus”.
Oil on gauze, on artist’s board
Original catalogue wording
"Paysage de Damas".
Öl auf Gaze, auf Malkarton
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Mamdouh Kashlan
Born : 1929Died : 2022Documented citizenships : Syria
The Syrian painter Mamdouh Kashlan, born in Damascus in 1929, trained in Rome at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied from 1952 to 1957 and obtained a diploma specialising in oil painting. From the early years of his career, his work extended across several cities: a solo exhibition is recorded at the National Museum of Damascus in 1958, followed by two more at the Egyptian Museum of Modern Art in Cairo in 1959 and 1961, while he taught at the Leonardo Da Vinci Academy of Fine Arts in the same city from 1959 to 1961. After returning to the Syrian institutional sphere, he worked from 1967 to 1988 as an administrator for arts education at the Ministry of Education; in 1968, he founded a school at the Museum of Fine Arts in Damascus. His commitment to organising the artistic milieu was also reflected in his co-founding of the Syrian Fine Arts Syndicate in 1969. He was elected its president and held the position until 1975, according to the biographical notice. In 1971, he also co-founded the General Arab Union for Fine Arts, of which he became secretary general.
A scholarship from the Italian government led him to stay in Italy again from 1977 to 1978, during which time he took part in ten exhibitions in different cities across the country. The Accademia Siculo-Normanna di Palermo e Monreale in Monreale awarded him the title of “Accademico honoris causa”. Kashlan also published two books devoted to Syrian artists: a book on Louay Kayyali in 1974, followed in 1983 by a book on Mahmoud Jalal, described in the biographical source as a pioneer of the Syrian art movement. The same source records more than 300 exhibitions in Syria and abroad, and mentions presentations in Sofia, Paris and Seinäjoki, Finland, as well as an exhibition at the Palais Rihour in Lille in 1991. His paintings are recorded in the national museums of Damascus, Aleppo and Deir Atiyah, as well as at the Sursock Museum in Beirut and the Egyptian Museum of Modern Art in Cairo.
Among the listed works is “Wedding in the Countryside (Damascus, Mezzeh Darayya)”, a 2015 oil on canvas measuring 175 × 225 cm, sold by Christie’s in 2019 for USD 40,000. “Hammam Al Nissaa bil sham (The Women’s Hammam in Damascus)”, an oil on canvas from 2014, measures 175 × 200 cm. The 2019 oil on canvas “Al-Nozoh (Displacement)”, measuring 174.5 × 199.5 cm, was sold by Sotheby’s in 2021. Another lot, entitled “Damascus Landscape”, is described as oil on gauze mounted on cardboard, signed at the lower left and dated and titled on the reverse in 1987; this work, measuring 50.5 × 40 cm and coming from Galerie Ebla in Damascus and then a private collection in Switzerland, was sold for CHF 1,300 against an estimate of CHF 2,000. Mamdouh Kashlan died in Damascus on 29 August 2022.
This profile brings together identity references for Mamdouh Kashlan and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
1 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Works recorded at auction
Sources and references
SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19