Dinis Guarda And Fayez Barakat Take On A Journey Through The Art Collections At Barakat Gallery

From Greek to Egyptian, Biblical, Sumerian, and Roman, Barakat Gallery is a respositaire of diverse cultures from across the globe. Fayez Barakat, art collector, artist, and the fifth generation owner of the Barakat Gallery, speaks at length about his experiences in the journey of collections during a recent interview with Dinis Guarda.

Fayez Barakat, a Palestinian-American artist and antiquities dealer, is the fifth generation owner of Barakat Gallery. The Gallery, with locations in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Seoul, is considered to have one of the largest collections of ancient art for sale in the world. At around 40,000 items and with a total valuation of over $1.5 billion USD, the gallery “has a collection of over 5,000 museum quality items”, says Fayez.

During the interview, Fayez also mentioned his work alongside British archeologist Kathleen Kenyon, and renowned Middle Eastern scholars and archaeologists Nelson Glueck and William Dever.

Recollecting some of his experiences with the fore-fathers of modern painting, like French impressionist Claude Monet, American Mark Rothko, Spaniard Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh, Fayez told Dinis that they inspired him to develop interest in diverse civilisations and cultures. This was, he highlights, when he developed passion and admiration for art.

During the interview, Fayez also showed some of the rare pieces of his collection. One of them was an iron bull from Tang Dynasty that valued £25 million. “These are objects here that any major museum in the world would die to have”, he said.

Art collection: A journey of personal endeavours

Art collection, a deeply personal endeavour, reflects an individual’s appreciation for creativity and respect for diverse cultures. Speaking about the narrative of his art collection, he told Dinis:

“Being in the art field and being a dealer in art, I handle, analyze, study, research, and discuss with experts on a regular basis. It has been my passion to develop my understanding and education because of the variety of subjects I handle. The quality of items that I have are quite superior.” His art collection, says Fayez, depicts diverse genres, periods, and artists, a story of different eras and cultural heritage from across the world.

Enduring this cultural and historical value, he tells Dinis: “We don’t own anything, we are just temporary guardians (of art).”

Exhibitions and collection showcase by Barakat Gallery

“We hold exhibitions in each of the different galleries and on different subjects”, Fayez told Dinis.

Some of the artwork exhibitions at different galleries under Barakat umbrella have been “Medusa’s Labyrinth” in Seoul, “The Game of Heh: Barakat Egyptian Treasures” in Seoul, “The Thousand-and-Second Tale: Oriental Carpets of the Barakat Collection” in Seoul, “The Glory of the Classical World: Ancient Greek & Roman Art Collection” in Seoul, Unglazed” in London “Fragility and Nobility: 19th Century Masterpieces of European Glass” in Seoul, “Bygone Empires” in London, “Jewelry Collection: Between Eternity and History” in Seoul, “Closer” in London, and “Enlightenment and Transcendence” in Seoul.

Speaking about his Islamic exhibition in Seoul, he said: “We featured a lot of things related to the Islamic culture. For example, the gifts offered by the Turkish Sultans through the different time periods. All these are accessible on our website so that everyone can see and study about.”