02 Paintings, Middle East Artists, Abdulhalim Radwi's UNTITLED, with Footnotes, #70

Abdulhalim Radwi, 1939 - 2006, SAUDI

UNTITLED, c. 1996

Oil on canvas

91 by 117cm.; 35 3/4 by 46in.

Private Collection

In Untitled, Radwi captures the vibrancy of the city. He depicts a futurist city landscape blending traditional Ottoman architecture with a contemporary one. The strong focus on the architectural façade is highlighted by the various shades of blue. These colourful geometric shapes are a testament to his time spent in Europe and the influence of Cubism. He combined these inspirations with a traditional subject matter to create an image that conveys the magnificence and atmosphere of the old-town Jeddah's unique in style and execution. The treatment of his canvases with the swift and unstructured movements of his palette knife is reminiscent of many of the European modernists. More on this painting

Abdulhalim Radwi (1939-2006)

HART AL SHAM (AL SHAM DISTRICT, JEDDAH), c. 1985

Oil on canvas

92 by 122cm.; 36 1/4 by 48in

Private Collection

Jeddah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia and the country's commercial center. With a population of about 4,697,000 people as of 2021, Jeddah is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest city in Hejaz, the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia (after the capital Riyadh), and the tenth-largest in the Middle East. Jeddah Islamic Port, on the Red Sea, is the thirty-sixth largest seaport in the world and the second-largest and second-busiest seaport in the Middle East. More on Jeddah

Originally from Makkah, Abdulhalim Radwi (1939-2006) was a painter, poet and sculptor in Jeddah and a pioneer of contemporary arts in Saudi Arabia. He was one of the first Saudis to go abroad for an art education and held a BA degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome (1964).

Radwi started his career as a teacher of fine arts in Makkah but became involved with the arts on a governmental level. From 1968-1974 he was director of the Jeddah Centre for Fine Arts and later (1980-1992) Director-General of the Culture and Arts of the City of Jeddah. In 1973 Radwi spent time in Madrid were he was Action Director of the Association of Arab Artists. In 1979 Radwi graduated from the Royal Arts Academy in Madrid. He was awarded many art prizes and honors while he spent much time abroad organizing as many as 105 exhibitions. His family maintain a website of his work, which can also be seen in museums of modern art in Jordan, Brazil, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia.

Radwi's paintings dealt mostly with Saudi lifestyle and he is said to have believed that Saudi artists must always keep an eye on their national identity. His two personal favorite paintings were The Recitation of Qur’an, which won a prize at the 1988 Biennale in Spain, and Old Buildings in Makkah, which he refused to sell for half a million Saudi riyals and kept in his personal museum in Jeddah. More on Abdulhalim Radwi

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