An Article by D.M. (1127 words, 6 min. read)
The World Through the Eyes of the Painter
Every city has a story, and Jamil Molaeb has spent more than five decades collecting them. In his exhibition Itinéraire (رحلات مدن), presented at Galerie Janine Rubeiz in Beirut from September 23 to October 30, 2026, the Lebanese artist takes us on a remarkable journey through some fifty cities across the world. An outstanding collection of gouache and oil paintings brings together his travels, his encounters, and the emotions he has experienced along the way. From the crowded streets of distant capitals to the familiar landscapes of Lebanon, Molaeb shares his passion for discovering new places and his pleasure in painting them. Each destination becomes an opportunity to see the world through his eyes, to understand what attracts his attention, and to experience the affection he develops for the places he visits.
Cities with a Thousand Stories
Molaeb has a particular way of looking at a city. His attention moves from the architecture to the people, from the smallest window to the vastness of a skyline. He observes the arrangement of buildings, the movement of the streets, and the colors that give each destination its character.
His brushstrokes are spontaneous and full of life. Buildings lean toward one another, streets follow unexpected directions, and architectural details are painted with remarkable freedom. The gouaches, in particular, retain the freshness of the moment, as though the artist were still standing before the landscape, selecting the details that caught his attention.
In one striking blue composition, a vast city stretches across the canvas beneath an airplane flying overhead. Countless buildings, windows, arches, and figures form an intricate urban landscape. The airplane introduces the excitement of departure and the anticipation of another destination. It also recalls Molaeb himself, moving from one country to another, gathering experiences that eventually find their way into his paintings.
The small figures moving through the streets give the immense city a human dimension. Behind every window, one imagines a life, a family, a story.
The Human Figure at the Heart of the Journey
Among the landscapes and architectural compositions, the human figure occupies a meaningful place.
One particularly touching painting depicts a reclining woman against the background of an Indian city. Her body stretches across the foreground, while the distant buildings rise behind her beneath a blue sky.
There is something intimate about this scene. The woman seems comfortable in her surroundings, absorbed in her own thoughts, while the city continues its daily activities behind her. Her relaxed posture and the warmth of her skin introduce a sense of familiarity into an otherwise distant landscape.
Molaeb brings together the experience of discovering a place and the pleasure of observing the people who inhabit it. The painting invites us to consider the individual lives that make a city what it is.
The Emotion of Empty Spaces
One of the most interesting aspects of Molaeb’s artistic language lies in the large areas of unified color that he preserves within certain compositions. Between the buildings, beneath the trees, or across an open landscape, these seemingly empty spaces create a striking contrast with the abundance of details surrounding them.
These areas are fully painted, sometimes in a single shade that extends across a significant part of the composition. Their simplicity allows the eye to rest after exploring the intricate architectural forms and the countless small elements that characterize his work.
Yet their importance extends beyond the visual balance they create.
There is something deeply emotional about these open spaces. They remind us of the way we remember a place. Certain details remain extraordinarily precise, while others gradually merge into a single color, an atmosphere, or a sensation.
Molaeb seems to understand this relationship between observation and memory. His painted voids allow the details to acquire greater importance, while leaving room for the viewer to imagine what lies beyond them.
They also introduce a sense of distance. A small group of houses surrounded by a vast area of color may suggest the solitude of a village, the immensity of a landscape, or the particular emotion of looking at a place from afar.
A World of Infinite Details
In other compositions, Molaeb fills nearly every part of the canvas with buildings, monuments, animals, human figures, and decorative motifs.
These elaborate paintings resemble entire cities condensed into a single image. Each section contains another scene, inviting the viewer to move closer and discover something new.
The earthy tones of one monumental composition recall the warmth of ancient stone. Architectural elements overlap with figures and animals, creating an intricate arrangement that brings together different aspects of the city’s history and daily life.
Elsewhere, white birds gather beside the water in a luminous landscape of soft greens and yellows. Small boats rest nearby, while the birds occupy the foreground with their delicate silhouettes.
The simplicity of this scene reveals another aspect of Molaeb’s sensitivity. His curiosity extends to the smallest details of the places he visits, including the animals, vegetation, and ordinary moments that contribute to their character.
His paintings encourage us to observe the world with the same attention and to appreciate the beauty of things we might otherwise overlook.
Baysour: The Journey Home
After traveling through cities across the world, the journey eventually leads us back to Lebanon, to Baysour, the artist’s native village.
And perhaps this is where the exhibition becomes most personal.
In his painting of Baysour, Molaeb portrays traditional Lebanese houses, red-tiled roofs, stone walls, arches, and trees rising between the buildings. The village extends across the composition beneath a pale blue sky.
Baysour is the landscape of his childhood, where his earliest memories were formed and where his artistic imagination continues to find inspiration.
One can almost imagine him walking through the village, recognizing every corner, remembering the people who once occupied its houses, and rediscovering the familiar colors of its landscape.
The same artistic eye that has explored distant cities now turns toward the place where it first learned to observe the world.
The Journey Within
What makes Itinéraire particularly moving is the generosity with which Jamil Molaeb shares his experiences. His paintings invite us to discover unfamiliar places, observe the people who inhabit them, and appreciate the diversity of the world.
Through his gouache and oil paintings, he transforms decades of travel into a deeply personal artistic adventure. Every city enriches his visual language, while every open space leaves room for our own memories and imagination.
Then at Baysour, among the red roofs and familiar houses, the traveler becomes a child again, looking at the landscape where his story began.
After a lifetime spent discovering the world, he returns to the place where he first learned to see it.
