Lots are subject to 5% import Duty on the importat… Read more

"I feel that the paintings of the illustrious artist, Hamed Nada express many of the thoughts that we do not have the courage to acknowledge. To convey his vision he invented an alphabet whose letters are formed by the movement of a woman's body, of birds, or animals, or even the implements of daily use. Lines are the masters of Nada's paintings- bent, round, straight- flowing freely without boundaries, or limits between earth and sky. I came to feel the artist takes into himself the colors, the scent, the emotions of life- and these images burn themselves into his heart and brain and are then released as his art." Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi HAMED NADA (1924 - 1990) The mature paintings of Hamed Nada are filled with anecdotal details. Rich in nuances of mystery and magic, together they evoke a sense of folklore, woven from a tapestry of the Thousand and One Nights, pharaonic mythology and popular legends. The son of a religious sheikh, Hamed Nada was brought up in an old Arabic house in the poor traditional neighbourhood of Al-Khalifa near the Syeda Skina Mosque in Cairo. Around him the young Nada experienced all the life and vibrancy of the old city, rich in crumbling medieval Mamluk buildings and gracious Ottoman-era monuments. At that time puppet shows were still performed in the streets amidst the seething street markets and these, together with the succession of moulids in this architecturally eclectic setting, they were to have a profound impact on the artist's subsequent work. Another important member of the Group of Contemporary Art, paintings from Hamed Nada's early period, the 1940s and 1950s, were marked by social-realist tendencies. The figures in these works are destitute, dwelling in dark and cramped conditions. Nada portrays them as helpless and their bodies with a massiveness that acts as a visual metaphor for the weight of the stress and frustration caused by poverty. Hamed Nada's strong social message and powerful execution, which early on employed surrealist iconography to heighten the sense of drama, prompted others in the Group of Contemporary Art to focus on the condition of the urban working-class. From the mid-1950s onwards Hamed Nada's style underwent major changes. He began to look at the work of Ragheb Ayad, from the first generation of Egyptian pioneer artists, who had reinterpreted pharaonic art in his portrayals of ordinary Egyptians. Also for inspiration Nada looked to Nubian folk art and African primitive art. This helps to explain Nada's comments about the effects of Ayad's art on his: "...I discovered the spiritual intimacy between me and Ragheb Ayad in his paintings on common people's life, though there was a vast difference between the way each of us tackled the theme and its characters. Ayad showed and undeniable gift in portraying working-class life. Meanwhile I paid particular attention to delve beyond the reality to capture the depths of inhabitans of the working-class areas, which inevitably surface, affection the behaviour of men and women among them... We can also notice that my working-class characters are shapeless. No attention is paid to details of features or distinctive characteristics. I do not depict a certain individual. I don't portray and ironsmith, a carpenter or farmer. I do not portray the ordinary man for his own sake, but to highlight a general human posture." (cited in Sobhy El-Sharouny, Hamed Nada: Star of Contemporary Art, Alexandria, 2007.) Nada started to use bright resonant colours, and the previous heaviness of his compositions evaporated. The figures, both human and animal, elongated and stylized, began to float around the pictorial space. Michievious and vivacious, the figures seemed to take on a life of their own. Thus Africanized, the figures in Nada's paintings became akin to hieroglyphs, generalized symbols rather than particularized personages. As Nada suffered gradual loss of hearing in the 1980s, to compensate the colours, gestures and violent movements of the figures became ever more extreme, leaving one with the impression of almost being able to hear the commotion going on in his paintings. PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. MOHAMMED SAID FARSI

Hamed Nada (Egyptian 1924 - 1990)

Henna Eve

Details

Hamed Nada (Egyptian 1924 - 1990)
Henna Eve
signed and dated 'H. Nada 1988' and signed and dated in Arabic (lower right)
oil and pencil on canvas laid down on panel
47 x 43¼in. (120 x 110cm.)
Executed in 1988

Literature

Liliane Karnouk, Modern Egyptian Art 1910-2003, Cairo, 2005 (illustrated in colour on the cover, illustrated in colour, p. 55)
Enas Hosni, Contemporary Art Group: A Surviving Wealth of Admirable Art', Cairo, 2009 (illustrated in colour, p. 104)
Sobhy Al-Sharouny, A Museum in a Book: The Farsi Art Collection "The Egyptian Works" Owned by Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi, Cairo, 1998 (illustrated in colour, p.276 and illustrated p.265, ref 17/32)

Special notice

Lots are subject to 5% import Duty on the importation value (low estimate) levied at the time of collection shipment within UAE. For UAE buyers, please note that duty is paid at origin (Dubai) and not in the importing country. As such, duty paid in Dubai is treated as final duty payment. It is the buyer's responsibility to ascertain and pay all taxes due.

Brought to you by

William Lawrie

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

wlawrie@christies.com Tel: +971 4 425 5647

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.
Sign in
View condition report

More from International Modern & Contemporary Art, Including Masterpieces from The Collection of Dr. Mohammed Said Farsi

View All

View All