Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour, giant of resistance art, dies aged 79

Sliman Mansour’s art captured the essence of Palestine, blending ancient traditions with modern themes of resistance.Suleiman Mansour was among the Arab world’s most renowned visual artists and the creator of the iconic Palestinian painting Mount of the Bearers. [Courtesy of Suleiman Mansour]Published On 25 Aug 202625 Aug 2026Celebrated artist Sliman Mansour, one of the founding figures of contemporary Palestinian art, has died at the age of 79 after a long illness, his family announced on Monday.Born in Birzeit, near Ramallah, in 1947, Mansour rose to prominence in the 1970s as part of a generation of Palestinian artists, writers and poets seeking to rebuild a threatened identity through symbols rooted in land and memory. Over more than five decades, his paintings came to embody the story of Palestine: the farmer clinging to his soil, the stone house on a hill, the embroidered thobe and the smile of a young girl carrying the hope of return.Mansour studied art in Beirut and Washington and went on to exhibit extensively, both in solo shows and group exhibitions across the Arab world and internationally. His works are held in museums and private collections worldwide, and he received...