User:BCAncientArt/sandbox

Biography
Fayez Barakat is an ancient art dealer and owner of The Barakat Gallery, a fifth generation family owned business, founded in Jerusalem over 100 years ago. Fayez is a purveyor of museum quality ancient art and has contributed significantly to the formation of some of the World's greatest Museum collections. Specialising in Classical antiquities, Near Eastern, Biblical, Chinese, Pre-Columbian, Byzantine, Asian, African and Primitive arts, the business expanded from a small shop in the Jerusalem Souq into a dealership with global reach, and a presence in most of the world's major art buying centres.

Early life
As a young boy Fayez worked beside the British archaeologist, Dr. Kathleen Kenyon, sorting and identifying shards from her excavations in Jerusalem. Fayez became familiar with pottery classifications and with the basic principles of field archaeology. This interest, coupled with a photographic memory, meant he could quickly master languages and was able to conduct intelligent conversations with visitors from throughout Europe in their native languages.

At the age of fourteen, Fayez was expected to follow a career path in medicine, having been offered a Fullbright Scholarship. However his father disliked the idea of creating such a distance between them that the scholarship offer was never accepted. Instead Fayez followed his interests in ancient art.

Rise to prominence
Fayez acquired numerous common household objects from periods extending from Middle Bronze I (2100-1900 B.C.) through the Byzantine era (A.D. sixth century). Soon he began to accept only choice items. At about the same time, Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of Hebrew Union College, a renowned scholar and archaeologist, invited Fayez to attend classes in the Jerusalem school. Soon he was enrolled in courses taught by the eminent Middle Eastern archaeologist, [|Dr. William Denver]. Under the guidance of the director of the Museum of the Flagellation at the Second Station of the cross in Jerusalem, he researched ancient coinage. He read and studied archaeological journals, excavation reports, and the best sources in art history. Consequently, becoming one of those unique individuals whose knowledge combines the results of classroom studies, extensive reading and research, and practical field experience with intimate familiarity with artifacts developed through the direct handling of items.

Today, Fayez is more than a dealer; he believes he owes something to the archaeologists and instructors who helped develop his expertise - and indeed, to all who help to tell the story of our rich human heritage. He preserves the past and hopes to save from possible damage and loss these exquisite objects. He has witnessed the destruction of such items through various means and realised that once an artifact is destroyed, whatever it might have told us is tell us is beyond recovery and therefore usefulness as a clue to understanding the creative spirit. He knew that an item sold by a merchant to a collector might remain in the new owner’s possession for a generation or two, but there was a good chance that it would ultimately end up in a museum. Lastly, he has made plans for the Barakat Family Museum, which may one day house these objects for all to enjoy. This is his continuing dream.

Current Interests
Whilst Fayez continues to operate within the realms of ancient art, recent events in his personal life have forced him to rethink his perspective: his wife passed away, just two years after the death of his first son. He has found solace in an old passion: painting. It was the first time he had sat in front of a blank canvas since his teenage years, when he had been first inspired to paint regularly by Pablo Picasso, whom he met briefly in 1960s Jerusalem. Barakat's current artistic output is astonishing in volume. His apartment in the new Khalidiya Palace complex is packed with hundreds of paintings and, he says, there are thousands more examples of his work in storage. All his works are easily classified as abstracts, but he scoffs at the idea that they are anything other than a form of realism.

Awards
Certificate of Recognition: presented to The Barakat Gallery by the Beverly Hills City Council in Honor of its 20th Anniversary and in recognition of the gallery's continued exhibition of rare treasures from the ancient world.