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Arts & Culture
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The Saudi Artworks Coming to Sotheby’s London.

The ‘Khamseen’ exhibition will feature pioneering Saudi artists from the last 50 years.

Scene Now Saudi
Aug 01, 2024
The Saudi Artworks Coming to Sotheby’s London.

In August 2024, prestigious auction house Sotheby’s will be hosting a series of events titled ‘Hafla’ at its Bond Street headquarters in celebration of Middle Eastern art and culture. Serving as its centrepiece is ‘Khamseen’, an exhibition held in collaboration with Qaswra Hafez and the Hafez Gallery, chronicling the last 50 years of Saudi visual art.

With the exhibition taking place between August 12th and the 30th, here is a preview of some of the prominent Saudi artists from the past half-century and their most evocative work…

Abdulhalim Radwi

‘Untitled’, 1989

Born in Makkah in 1939, Abdulhalim Radwi was a pioneer of Saudi Modernism. Although influenced by European cubism and expressionism, his work is rooted in his Saudi identity and infused with references to nomadic Bedouin folklore and traditional architecture.

This piece is imbued with the effervescent, bustling energy of the old towns of his beloved Saudi Arabia but with a futurist twist, blending traditional Ottoman architecture with contemporary influences. Like much of his work, the painting captures Radwi’s attempt to reconcile modernity and artistic authenticity.

Abdulrahman Al Soliman

‘Untitled’, 1980

With its delicate, subtle lines and soft hues, this rare early cubist work produced by Dammam-based Abdulrahman Alsoliman in 1980 bears testimony to the artist’s love of his country.

Mohammad Al Resayes

‘Architectural Element 5’, 1982

The three stark, solitary figures in ‘Architectural Element 5’, painted by leading Saudi expressionist Mohammed Al Resayes while living in Cairo in 1982, evoke the pain of exile.

Much of his work during this period fed into the artist’s attempt to conciliate between the everlasting and the transitory as a debate raged around the tension between modernity and tradition.


Mohammed Al Saleem

‘Untitled’, 1986

Groundbreaking Saudi abstract artist Mohammed Al Saleem developed a unique style dubbed ‘Al-Afakia’ (Horizonism) in the 1980s. Inspired by Riyadh’s desert skyline, the style was an attempt to reconcile modernist and traditionalist aesthetics to create a style authentic to the local tradition.

This 1986 piece banishes form and landscape, reimagining the distant dunes of the desert horizon. The layering and shading on the horizon are reminiscent of musical accords and variations, creating an astonishing sense of energy and dynamism.

Rashed Alshashai

Untitled’, 2011

Rashed Alshashai is a Saudi conceptual artist and leading promoter of the arts in the country as a founder of the Tasami Centre for Visual Arts in 2009. His practice incorporates found local objects with historical symbolic resonance to create a semantic field to interrogate societal dynamics.

Arwa Al Neami

‘Spring Camel’, 2012

‘Spring Camel’, by conceptual artist Arwa Naeemi, reclaims the camel as an iconic cultural symbol to pay homage to the hope and optimism of the Arab Spring. Her wider artistic practice interrogates themes of acceptance and inclusion within Saudi society in a bold range of mediums, but with a focus on photography.

Musaed Al Hulis

‘The Sleep of the Wicked 2’, 2013

Inspired by his Muslim faith, Musaed Al Hulis’ ‘The Sleep of the Wicked’ series is a dark warning against corruption and immorality. The stylized casket is a stark reminder that our deeds define our future in the unknown hereafter.

Lulwah Al-Homoud

‘The Language of Existence’, 2017

In works such as ‘The Language of Existence’, Lulwah Al Homoud revolutionized the world of Arabic calligraphy. Al Homoud’s radical practice fuses algebra with calligraphy, breaking down Arabic letters into mathematically based geometric patterns. The result is minimalist and abstract compositions inspired by the Islamic philosophical tradition in the search for the inner veracity of everything.

All images courtesy of Sotheby’s. 

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