Ribal Molaeb

Born in Baissour, Ribal Molaeb moved to Salzburg, Austria at the age of 17, to study at the Mozarteum University, Salzburg. He later moved to Vienna to study at the University for Music and Performing Arts, where he received his Master’s in Arts with distinction. Molaeb was assigned as the artistic director of ‘SUMITO’ Art and Music Association in Switzerland. He is the president of the Molaeb Art Museum and the founder of the Molaeb Festival for Chamber Music and Fine Arts. His oil paintings have been exhibited in Amsterdam, Zürich, Vienna, and Beirut. He currently lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland.

In his early years, he was personally trained by his father Jamil Molaeb. He was also inspired by Lebanese 20th-century abstract expressionists, like Saliba Douaihy, Aref el Rayess, and Shafic Abboud. After moving to Switzerland, Molaeb became influenced by the works of Paul Klee, who was, himself, an accomplished violinist. Ribal Molaeb’s musical education in Vienna had a significant impact on his paintings; a musical orientation exists in the compositional, harmonic, and melodic aspects of many of his works. His paintings have an energy about them, generated by his interrogation of colour power and harmony. At the same time, the works are marked by aspects of the delicate distribution of colours and shapes. Molaeb’s understanding of harmony in classical music has given him a deep understanding of abstract paintings and compositions. He paints to create a personally satisfying world, cleanly designed and delicately harmonised.