Nicolas Moufarrege was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1947. In Beirut he graduated with two degrees in chemistry. While on a Fulbright at Harvard, however, he decided to become an artist. His medium? On needlepoint canvas Moufarrege used pigment and thread to make “embroidery paintings” and tapestries. He returned to Beirut, then moved to Paris, then to NYC’s East Village, producing pieces that stitched together all these influences. In 1985, at age 37, Moufarrege died of AIDS, leaving behind a singular body of work. —L.J.