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Lot Essay
Hamed Nada's paintings are filled with anecdotal details; rich in nuances of mystery and magic, they recall Egyptian folk traditions, Pharaonic mythology and popular myths. The son of a religious Sheikh, Hamed Nada was brought up in an old Arabic house in the popular neighbourhood of Al-Khalifa near the Syeda Skina Mosque in Cairo. The young Nada experienced the vibrant life of the old city and discovered from a young age the architecture of the Mamluk buildings and of the gracious Ottoman monuments that surrounded him. At that time puppet shows were still performed in the streets amidst the seething markets and, along with the Moulid festivities, they were to have a profound impact on the artist's career.
Hamed Nada's early works painted in the 1950s and 1960s revealed his social-realist tendencies and beliefs. A student of Hussein Youssef Amin who had rejected the academic system of the School of Fine Arts in Cairo and had subsequently implemented a new system of art education based on individual development and freedom of expression, Hamed Nada soon joined the Group of Contemporary art and became of one its prominent members and their works were influenced by the popular rural Egyptian culture and questioned their social concerns.
Hamed Nada was one of the first Egyptian Modern painters along with the painter Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar to integrate superstitious symbols, refer to human psychology and the unconscious fear in his paintings. This present work Al A'mal fi Al Hakal (Work in the Field) was painted in 1962 at a time when Hamed Nada was developing his depictions of the urban Egyptian landscapes with figures who appeared destitute and confused, dwelling in dark and cramped conditions. Nada portrays them as helpless while their imposing bodies become a visual metaphor for their anguish and frustration caused by poverty.
The animal and human figures depicted in his composition are stylized, almost schematic and depicted across the surface of the canvas as though they were floating, without any sense of perspective. Much like hieroglyphics, the symbols become form to hint at a broader reality. The present work is truly Egyptian and undeniably one of the finest examples from Nada's series of works painted in the 1960s.
Hamed Nada's early works painted in the 1950s and 1960s revealed his social-realist tendencies and beliefs. A student of Hussein Youssef Amin who had rejected the academic system of the School of Fine Arts in Cairo and had subsequently implemented a new system of art education based on individual development and freedom of expression, Hamed Nada soon joined the Group of Contemporary art and became of one its prominent members and their works were influenced by the popular rural Egyptian culture and questioned their social concerns.
Hamed Nada was one of the first Egyptian Modern painters along with the painter Abdel Hadi El-Gazzar to integrate superstitious symbols, refer to human psychology and the unconscious fear in his paintings. This present work Al A'mal fi Al Hakal (Work in the Field) was painted in 1962 at a time when Hamed Nada was developing his depictions of the urban Egyptian landscapes with figures who appeared destitute and confused, dwelling in dark and cramped conditions. Nada portrays them as helpless while their imposing bodies become a visual metaphor for their anguish and frustration caused by poverty.
The animal and human figures depicted in his composition are stylized, almost schematic and depicted across the surface of the canvas as though they were floating, without any sense of perspective. Much like hieroglyphics, the symbols become form to hint at a broader reality. The present work is truly Egyptian and undeniably one of the finest examples from Nada's series of works painted in the 1960s.