(1930 - 2006 - Self-portrait)

Shammout was an influential Palestinian artist, whose prominent style of painting employs recognizable symbols of Palestinian culture and traditions.
1930 - Born in the city of Lydda, Palestine.

1948 - On July 12, 1948, he and his family were amongst 25,000 residents of Lydda expelled from their homes by Israeli soldiers. The Shammout family moved to the Gaza refugee camp of Khan-Younes
1950 - In 1950 Shammout went to Cairo and enrolled in the College of Fine Arts.

1953 - Set up his first exhibition in the town of Gaza, (29th July 1953) the first exhibition ever to be held by a Palestinian artist in Palestine (his brother, Jamil, took part in this exhibition).

1954 - Opened his major exhibition in Cairo,with the participation of the Palestinian artist Tamam Aref Al-Akhal, a colleague then, and currently his wife. The exhibition was sponsored and inaugurated by Egyptian President Jamal Abdul-Nasser, on the 21st July 1954.

Moved to Italy and joined the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
1956 - Moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he lived and worked in various artistic and cultural endeavors.

1959 - Married his artist colleague, Mss. Tamam Al-Akhal.

1965 - Joined the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), as Director of Arts and National Culture.

1969 - Elected as first Secretary General, Union of Palestinian Artists.

1971 - Elected as first Secretary General, Union of Arab Artists.

1983 - Moved from Beirut to Kuwait with his family, following the Israeli aggression against the PLO in Lebanon.

1992 - Moved to Cologne, Germany, following the Gulf war.

1994 - Settled in Amman, Jordan, where the artist currently resides.

1997 - He and his wife al Akhal, returned to Lydda, facing the reality that their hometown was now part of Israel.

2006 - He died on July 1, 2006 at the age of seventy-six.

Ismail Shammout has the following publications:

- The Young Artist, Beirut (1957), Arabic.
- Palestine, Illustrated Political History, Beirut (1972), various languages.
- Palestinian National Art, Beirut (1978), various languages.
- Palestine in Perspective, Beirut (1978), Arabic & English.
- Art in Palestine, Kuwait (1989), Arabic & English.
- Ismail Shammout Award for contemporary artist painters on (2011)