The works of Syrian artist Nader Haj Kadour
Syrian artist Nader Haj Kadour completed three murals in less than a month at a vocational high school in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, including this landscape. The artist poses here with his work. (Raja Abdulrahim / Los Angeles Times)
Haj Kadour’s painting of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, adorns a wall on the second floor of a vocational high school named after the leader in Reyhanli, Turkey. There is a waiting list of Reyhanli schools that want to hire the artist, said Necmetin Yumusak, the school’s principal, who called him a “maestro.” (Raja Abdulrahim / Los Angeles Times)
Haj Kadour works on a mural at a vocational high school in Reyhanli, Turkey. The artist works late on a Sunday night, so he won’t be disturbed by students. (Raja Abdulrahim / Los Angeles Times)
Half-finished paintings line the walls of Haj Kadour’s room in one of two apartments he shares with his elderly mother and brother’s family in Reyhanli, Turkey. The classically trained artist is happy to discuss the finer points of painting cartoon characters for a young audience but prefers not to dwell on the many portraits he was asked to produce for Syria’s ruling Assad family. (Raja Abdulrahim / Los Angeles Times)
