Palestinian Artist Sliman Mansour Dies at 79 in Jerusalem
His family said the painter helped shape Palestinian visual identity through art that documented displacement, occupation and resistance over more than five decades.
- Renowned Palestinian painter Sliman Mansour died in Jerusalem on Monday, August 24, 2026, at age 79. His family announced the passing via an Instagram story post, ending a career spanning six decades.
- Born in Birzeit in 1947, Mansour spent more than five decades shaping a visual language for Palestinian identity. He frequently depicted olive trees, rural landscapes, and traditional embroidery to document displacement and history.
- In 1973, he painted his most iconic work, Jamal Al-Mahamel , depicting a porter carrying Jerusalem. During the First Intifada in 1987, he co-founded the New Visions Collective, boycotting Israeli supplies to experiment with local materials.
- Beyond painting, he co-founded the Al-Wasiti Art Centre and served on the board of the International Academy of Art Palestine. His family stated he leaves behind a legacy of "beauty, memory, and a legacy that will continue."
- Mansour's art became a symbol of sumud, or steadfastness, as he sought to affirm Palestinian existence. "Our fight now is to tell the world that we are full human beings," the artist told Hyperallergic in 2023.
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21 Articles
Sliman Mansour, one of the most important figures in contemporary Palestinian art, has died at the age of 79. For more than five decades, he painted Palestine through its traditions, its people, its struggles, and above all, its land. His work and legacy are inseparable from "the Palestinian visual and national memory," the Palestinian Ministry of Culture stated.
Sliman Mansour, a pillar of contemporary Palestinian art, dies at 79
Mansour spent a lifetime depicting the struggle of Palestinians, their love for their land and the beauty of their cultural heritage. 'Palestine was not so much the subject of his work as it was its purpose,' said the Palestine Museum
The painter and sculptor, whose works depicted Palestinian traditions and the struggle of his people under Israeli occupation, died on Monday, August 24 at the age of 79.
The artist, whose works portrayed Palestinian traditions and the struggle of his people under Israeli occupation, died in his house in East Jerusalem, said his relatives.
Palestinian painter and writer Sliman Mansour, whose work became a symbol of resistance, died yesterday at the age of 79, his family reported through his social network Instagram.
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