- 38
Mohammed Al Saleem
Description
- Mohammed Al Saleem
- Untitled
- signed and dated 1989 twice
- oil on canvas
Provenance
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1989
Catalogue Note
Mohammed Al Saleem is one of Saudi Arabia’s preeminent modern artists and one who has greatly contributed to the growth and evolution of Saudi art. In fact, the artistic and critical influence that took place in the 80s saw the development of three key factions in the local art scene. The first was rooted in tradition and heritage; the second saw local customs as a hindrance to artistic progress, and the third whom Al Saleem belonged to, sought a happy medium between the modernist and the traditionalist.
One of the first artists to have left the Kingdom for a pursuit of a formal art education, it is in the Academia delle Belle Arte in Florence that Al Saleem came across the works of neo- impressionist Henri-Edmond Cross. He was particularly touched by Edmond-Cross’s later work, and its gradual use of broader, blocky brushstrokes leaving small areas of exposed bare canvas between the strokes. A shift which resulted in surfaces resembling mosaics, and owning his oeuvre the position of precursor to Fauvism and Cubism. Upon his return to the Kingdom Mohammed Al Saleem decided to teach many of these Western principles and techniques learned in his arid hometown of Marat.
Untitled displays Al Saleem’s signature fusion of abstraction with figuration: the artist effectively reconciled two ostensibly opposing styles whilst hovering thrillingly on the edge of both. Al Saleem is the first Saudi artist to have advocated his belief that a painting should follow both stylistic schools equally, both abstract and figurative, one to extend the flat surface and the latter to create more lyrical depth to the composition. Throughout the 1980s, Al Saleem had been hailed as the leading abstract artist of his generation, with his sensuously thick, impasto compositions earning him recognition as one of the leading figures of the Pioneers of the Gulf, who, in the aftermath of the Gulf war, have found solace in the evocation of geometric form and pure colour on canvas. Untitled was created around the time of this significant aesthetic turning point, and thus stands as a powerful summation of the artist’s early style whilst simultaneously acknowledging the future direction of Al Saleem’s oeuvre.