‘The Bright Shore’
Ibrahim Bugis
The Makkah-born artist’s 1986 oil painting marks, according to the exhibition notes, “a transitional moment in (his) stylistic evolution … transcending representational signs and symbols, moving toward a perception where color and shape exist beyond literal representation.” It’s a scene of fishing boats returning to shore at sunrise — a departure, too, from Bugis’ previous subject matter, which tended to focus on the urban environment of his hometown. “Soft variations of white and blue create a gentle sense of motion,” the notes state, “mimicking the play of early light on shimmering water and the quietude of the morning wind. While Bugis rigorously works the formal structure and spatial relationships of the composition, he preserves the traditional symbolism of the color palette, anchoring the semi-abstract forms in reality.” The piece can be seen as “a poetic interpretation” of a scene, rather than a straightforward portrait.
‘Mosque Between Palms’
Abdulrahman Alsoliman
This oil painting from the mid-1980s, like much Alsoliman’s other work, “conveys a deep appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s culture and heritage,” as Sotheby’s noted at an auction of another of his pieces from the Eighties. It also displays the delicate brushwork and subtlety for which Alsoliman is known. The Al-Ahsa native is one of the most significant figures in Saudi modernism — not just for his paintings, but for his criticism and cultural journalism too. He has written several books on Saudi art, and served as head of the fine art department at the Society of Culture and Arts in Dammam for many years.
‘Untitled’
Abdulhamid Albaqshi
The Al-Hofouf-born artist created this oil painting in the mid-1970s. It typifies his approach to combining tradition and modernism — the foreground resembles a traditional portrayal of a landscape, through which a lone man is walking; but the background swirls and dissolves into something more surreal and impressionistic. Such dreamlike landscapes are a common motif in Albaqshi’s work, and are particularly striking when you consider the time and cultural context in which he was creating them. In the catalogue for a 2023 exhibition entitled “Echoing the Land,” Misk Art Institute noted that, in Albaqshi’s practice, “familiar environments intertwine with supernatural elements, creating mystifying landscapes that reflect his inner thoughts.”
‘Clipping on a White Wall’
Khalil Hassan Khalil
The Jizan-born artist describes his style as “dreamism” rather than surrealism. “His works center around realistic scenes which meld into ethereal images,” Sotheby’s stated in its notes for one of his other works that it offered at auction. He works primarily with oils, as in this work. But here, he has painted — realistically — a wall-mounted collage (complete with visiting lizard). It’s an interesting juxtaposition of genres in which Khalil allows the subject of the painting to provide the surrealist imagery, while the painting itself sticks to a more traditional form of depiction.
‘Passing by the Sahoud Palace’
Ahmad Almaghlouth
This work by the Al-Ahsa native perfectly captures the accelerated transformation of Gulf countries, including the Kingdom, after the discovery of oil. It depicts a camel, a cart, and a car all travelling along the same road. In a piece about a group show at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, in which this oil painting featured, earlier this year, Canvas magazine’s Dana Husseino noted: “Although not positioned at the center of the artwork, a woman maintains a calm and confident presence, remaining grounded while quietly asserting her place within this evolving landscape.”
