Ismaïl Shammout  is considered to be a founder of modern Palestinian visual arts, holding the first stand-alone painting exhibit in Gaza City in 1953. He is a prolific and consistent painter of realist scenes of the Palestinian tragedy and struggle: The Nakba, the exodus of refugees, civilians’ massacres, the rise of resistance and the Fedayeen, as well as idyllic depictions of Palestinian rural life. Many of his works are widely reproduced in Palestinian publications, and became domestic icons of sorts.  Born in 1930 in Lydda, his family sought refuge in Khan Yunis after the Nakba. He studied at Cairo’s fine arts college and at Rome’s fine arts academy.  He was appointed in 1965 as head of the PLO’s fine arts department, and  obtained a special Palestine Award for visual arts in 1997. He has exhibited widely throughout the world, and now lives and works in Jordan, where he has been experimenting with computer art. He has written extensively on Palestinian art.