Born in 1942 in Beirut, Hassan Jouni started his artistic journey quite young: his first exhibited artwork was at school, at the age of eleven. He grew an interest in urban landscapes and the signature Lebanese style architecture with stone walls, tall windows and terracotta red tiled roofs. His paintings also show a fascination with the daily life and activities of city people. Despite having grown up in the city, Jouni’s family originates from a village in South Lebanon called Roumin. The artist attended the Lebanese Fine Art Academy (ALBA) where he frequented Cesar Gemayel, and then went on to receive his second and third rounds of schooling in Valencia and Madrid respectively. Jouni’s style has always been figurative rather than abstract, and lingering somewhere between Impressionism and Expressionism. 

Jouni has exhibited works worldwide and has participated in a handful of biennales such as the ones in Sao Paulo, Alexandria, Kuwait, etc.

This beautiful harvest scene in a village suspended atop its mountain, seems disconnected from the rest of the world. The laborers, in traditional Lebanese-Ottoman garb, are working under the morning sun. Although the sun seems harsh, and the labor as well, there’s a sense of serenity emanating from this piece, as if Jouni painted it with an internal sense of peace and nostalgia.