Mohammad el Rawas, painter and printmaker, was born on the 26th of May 1951 in Beirut, Lebanon.
In 1971 he joined the Institute of Fine Arts at the Lebanese University in Beirut, Lebanon, and graduated with a BA in painting in 1975. At this time the civil war in Lebanon broke out, and el Rawas fled the country.
The war had a drastic effect on el Rawas and he stopped painting for two years.
In 1977 he traveled to Morocco, where he worked as an art instructor at the Ecole Normale des Institutrices, Rabat, until 1979. It was at this time that he started painting again.
In 1979 he returned to Beirut, and held his first individual exhibit. Benefitting from a scholarship from The Lebanese University, he enrolled at The Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, United Kingdom, and graduated with an MA degree in printmaking in 1981.
In 1981 he returned to Lebanon and started teaching in 1982 at the Lebanese University, Institute of Fine Arts in Beirut, a post he held till his resignation in March 2009.
From 1983 until 1992 Mohammad el Rawas served as Secretary General of the Association of Lebanese Artists and was a founding member of the Syndicate of Lebanese Artists in 2004.
From 1992 until 2004 he taught at the American University of Beirut, Department of Architecture and Design, and founded the etching, engraving and silkscreen studios.
Mohammad el Rawas is currently living and working in Beirut.