In his 1968 review of “Blood and Freedom,” an exhibition by Aref El Rayess (1928–2005) that opened in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, journalist Walid Shmait noted formal inconsistencies in the artist’s work. He observed: “The path of revolution, for El Rayess, is split in its appearances but is unified in its concept and depth.” In pointing out the apparent stylistic variation of the paintings on display, Shmait succumbed to a common misperception about El Rayess, one that continues to this day. This misperception signals a problem—an impasse—in the reception of the artist’s oeuvre. The