Hanan Abdullah Bahamdan (; born 1966) is a Saudi visual artist, known for her portraits.

Biography

Hanan Abdullah Bahamdan was born in

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, in 1966. Her father, Abdullah Bahamdan, previously served as chairman of the

Saudi National Bank Saudi National Bank (SNB; ), also known as SNB AlAhli, formerly known as The National Commercial Bank (NCB), is the largest commercial bank in Saudi Arabia. In April 2021, National Commercial Bank merged with Samba Financial Group under the nam ...

; her brother is the businessman and equestrian Kamal Bahamdan. Bahamdan began painting in her early 20s. She first studied art and exhibited her work in Riyadh, holding her inaugural show at her own home in 1991. She earned a bachelor's in business administration from

King Saud University King Saud University (KSU, ) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulalziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in Saudi Arabia. It was known as Riyadh U ...

. She later moved to Egypt and London to work and study, spending two years under the mentorship of the Egyptian

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

artist Mohamed Sabry. She has a diploma in portraiture from London's

Heatherley School of Fine Art The Heatherley School of Fine Art is an independent art school in London. The school was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as the school's principal from James Mathews Leigh (when it was named "Leigh's"). Founded in 1845, the school ...

. Bahamdan is primarily known for her portraits. ''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...

'' describes her work as "filled with a sense of suppressed agitation or latent distress through the disconcerted expressions of her subjects." She often depicts those who go overlooked, as in ''Mannci'' ("The Forgotten"), her 2007 portrait of a working-class Egyptian man, which was the first piece by a female Saudi artist to be auctioned by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

. This body of work is documented in the 2009 book ''Art of Forgotten Faces''. Her work is held in various private collections as well as by Saudi Arabia's General Presidency for Youth Welfare and

Ministry of Labor A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...

Selected exhibitions

* Atelier of Fine Arts,

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

, 2001 * The Plastic Arts Gallery at the

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House (, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is ...

, Cairo, 2005 * Hewar Art Gallery, Riyadh, 2009

References

External links

Hanan Bahamdan
on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahamdan, Hanan 1966 births Living people People from Riyadh King Saud University alumni Saudi Arabian women artists