Lot 35: Abdul Qader Al-Rais (Emirati, b. 1951)

Abdul Qader Al-Rais (Emirati, b. 1951)
Untitled (from the Impressionist Collection)
signed and dated in Arabic (lower left)
oil on canvas
54¾ x 38¼in. (139 x 97cm.)
Painted on the 14th of April 1990

Abdul Qader Al-Rais, The Colours of My Life, Dubai, 2002 (illustrated in colour, p.51)

FROM THE COLLECTION OF JASSEM AL-RAIS

Abdul Qader Al-Rais is the best-known artist from the UAE. Simultaneously he paints in two very different styles. For his landscape and architectural scenes, his style is photorealistic, very keenly observed, with a delicate beige palette set off by flashes of blue. He also paints abstract works, often involving the Arabic letterform. What unites both is his signature use of small floating squares, which appear even in the most realistic of his paintings.

In his photorealist work, the artist captures the almost -vanished life of the United Arab Emirates of old and in his work chronicles the country's old neighbourhoods, houses, and forts.