Habib Srour is said to have inspired generations of artists and is acknowledged for demonstrating an expressive kind of painting by giving attention to essential principles of light, shadow, and form. He moved to Rome from Lebanon with his family at the age of 10, where he studied at the Institute Regio di Bel Arte then later moved to Egypt. In 1890, he returned to Beirut where he taught at the Ottoman School of Bashoura and worked in his studio at Alfred Sursock’s home. He received art training from the influential Lebanese painter Daoud Corm who was also a mentor to Khalil Gibran and Khalil Saleeby. He was a prominent and prolific artist, painting over two thousand paintings during his lifetime. Nu Academique demonstrates Srour’s skills with light and shadow as well as his attention to detail. He was known locally and credited with a large body of work of nude paintings, which likely influenced ideas and cultural discourse around gender, urban life, and modernisation. Srour won the Silver Medal and Honorary Mention accolades at exhibits in Italy, the first Lebanese to receive such foreign distinctions. In Lebanon, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Lebanese Republic.