Samir Sammoun

Samir Sammoun

Samir Sammoun
Born (1952-08-10) August 10, 1952
Joun, Lebanon
Nationality Lebanese, Canadian
Known for Artist,
Notable work Olive Grove, Lake Champlain, Walking with Giants, Wheat Field, St. Joseph Oratory

Samir Sammoun (born August 10, 1952) is a Canadian–Lebanese artist and telecommunications engineer.

Early life

Samir Sammoun was raised in Joun, Lebanon on his family's 1,000-year-old olive plantation. His father, Fares Sammoun, was a broker at the Port of Beirut, and an olive grove farmer. His father Fares and mother Marie Bouchrouch, were married for 65 years until their deaths in 2008 and 2010. Born into one of Joun's notable families, Samir is the third child in a family of six children; five boys and one girl. In 1976, his brother Elias, (age 20), was killed in the Lebanese civil war.

Samir Sammoun began painting in oils at the age of 13,[1] while continuing his formal education. After completing studies at the Ecole des Arts et Metiers in Beirut in 1969, he emigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1973 at the age of 21.[2] There he obtained a Baccalauriat en Ingenierie (Engineering degree) in Electronics in 1977, followed by a Masters Degree in Telecommunications from the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal in 1978. After becoming a citizen of Canada in 1976, it was there he met and married Yvette Charron in 1980.

Work and careers

While pursuing a career as a telecommunications engineer, and obtaining several patents[3] for Cable TV transmission systems,[4] Sammoun resumed painting oils on canvas, and simultaneously launched a second career as a professional artist.

Sunny Isles Beach, Florida by Samir Sammoun 24x30 Original Oil on Canvas

In 1988–92 Samir Sammoun obtained three patents for engineering inventions that would enable Cable providers to broadcast and receive high speed data over Cable Networks. From 1990–95 Sammoun served as Vice President of Videotron in Montreal, after which he founded his own company SHS Technology.[5] SHS was a leading analyst in the technology that operates the Broadband over power line, which transmits internet signals to and from subscribers of electricity companies. While at Videotron he and his colleagues, as described in their 1990 patent, invented a "cable communication system comprising a bidirectional transmission network connected to the head end for transmitting signals downstream from the head end to a plurality of subscriber stations, and for transmitting data signals upstream to the Cable provider". Along with others, this system forms the basic technology for addressing data traveling over the internet.

Wheat Field by Samir Sammoun Original Oil on Canvas 40x60

In 2003–2004 he was the featured artist in a televised segment on Mountain Lake PBS Television, Plattsburgh, New York. His work is cataloged in the National Library of Canada.

In 2003 Samir Sammoun was the invited guest of Emile J. Lahoud, President of Lebanon. His visit was featured in a segment on LBC-TV; and his painting Olive Grove was installed in the Baabda Palace, Presidential Palace in Beirut.[6]

Olive Grove in Joun, Lebanon by Samir Sammoun

A solo exhibition of his paintings was held at the Gallery d 'Art at the Musee des Beaux-arts de Montreal from October–December 2005, attended by Quebec Premier Jean Charest and his wife Michelle Dionne. Prior to that, Samir Sammoun was given a retrospective at the Musee de Marc-Aurele Fortin in the old city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

New York State First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson with Samir Sammoun at the Governor's Mansion

In 2009 he exhibited at the Plattsburgh State University Art Museum, Plattsburgh, New York to create a series of 18 oil paintings commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the European discovery of Lake Champlain.[7][8] The paintings were exhibited there from May – July 2009, and featured in a live broadcast there on Fox TV; after which two were exhibited for a year at the Governor's mansion in Albany, upon the request of the First Lady of New York, Michelle Paige Paterson.[9] Paintings from this group were also entered into the Plattsburgh State University Art Museum, and the Samuel de Champlain Museum's permanent collections.

Three of his paintings were acquired in 2011 by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) Museum of Kuwait, for their permanent collection.

Other Museum credits include a Group Exhibition at the McCord Museum in Montreal Feb–March 2002, a Guest Artist Exhibition at the Latino Art Museum in Pomona,[10] California 2008 and a commission he painted in 1997 for the St. Joseph's Oratory, a National Historic Landmark in Montreal that receives 2.5 million visitors every year.[6] Another painting was commissioned by Corporate Affairs International and donated to the government of Quebec. It is now included in the permanent collection of the Quebec government offices in Quebec City.

Saint Joseph Oratory by Samir Sammoun

Works

Sammoun works in a series of images from one palette. He works with oils on jute and linen canvas, applying a heavy impasto, created in fast emotional bursts of energy. The result is a spontaneous rendering of the subject, as if a flickering effect of light is coming through, reflected by the colors he places side by side and on top of one another on his canvas. Critics like Noel Meyer of MAGAZIN' ART[2] have said, "Sammoun attempts to make his audience feel the wind blow through the trees, the heat in the air and the colours of the sky ..." Victor Forbes Editor of Fine Art Magazine, has said that "Sammoun's emotional investment in each work is evident in every canvas."[11]

Paintings by Sammoun were in a 2012 group exhibition "Viewpoint and Vistas".[12]

Apple Blossom by Samir Sammoun 24x30 Original on Canvas

Personal life

With his siblings in Lebanon, he is today the owner of an olive grove near his birthplace in Joun that produces extra virgin olive oils.

Samir Sammoun Self Portrait with his young son

Samir Sammoun is active in several charitable organizations, including Sainte Justine Hospital of Montreal and the Medical Mission for Children in Boston. In 2012 Sammoun met with Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al Rahi, Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, during his visit to Montreal; and presented him with an oil painting to be placed in the Bkerke, at the historic coastal city of Junieh, Lebanon.

Museum exhibitions

[13][14]

Walking with Giants by Samir Sammoun 40x60 Original Oil on Canvas

Publications

[13]

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Corporate and public collections

Also in private collections in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, and England.

References

  1. ↑ Meyer, Noel (2005). Sammoun. Montreal, Canada: Musee de beaux-artsde Montreal. pp. 7–8.
  2. 1 2 Savignac, P.H. (2000). "Samir Sammoun A Class Act". Magazin Art. 13 (Fall): 107–109, 135–137.
  3. ↑ "Patent Buddy". Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ United States. Patent and Trademark Office (1992). Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patents, Volume 1139, Issues 4–5. the University of Wisconsin – Madison: U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office, 1992. pp. 78, 3300.
  5. ↑ "Open Corporates". Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  6. 1 2 Forbes, Jamie (2004). "Samir Honored with Museum Exhibit". Fine Art Magazine (Spring): 29. UPC-A: 0-97843-77023-8, EAN-2: 03.
  7. ↑ Ouellette, Michelle. "New York's first lady to be on-hand for museum exhibit opening". SUNY Plattsburgh News. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  8. ↑ Ettling, Dr. John. "Plattsburgh State Art Museum". Views of Lake Champlain. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
  9. ↑ Caudell, Robin (June 21, 2009). "Art from Plattsburgh show going to Governor's Mansion". Press Republican. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ Nardi, Graciela. "Latino Art Museum". Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  11. ↑ Forbes, Victor (2003). "Samir Walking with Giants". Fine Art Magazine (Spring): 20–23. UPC-A: 0-97843-77023-8, EAN-2: 01.
  12. 1 2 "Viewpoints & Vistas". Galerie d'Orsay. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Meyer, Noel (2005). Sammoun. Montreal, Canada: Musee de Beaux-Arts de Montreal. pp. 31–32.
  14. ↑ Sammoun, Samir. "Samir Sammoun Fine Art". Retrieved July 12, 2013.
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