February 2020
Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents
Authors:Anneka Lenssen, Sarah Rogers, Nada Shabout, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Anahi Alviso-Marino, Dia al-Azzawi, Waddah Faris, Anneka Lenssen, Ussama Makdisi, May Muzaffar, Amir Nour, Nasser Rabbat, Dina Ramadan, Sarah Rogers, Mona Saudi, Kirsten Scheid, Nada Shabout, Stephen Sheehi, Vera Tamari, and Mohanad Yaqubi.
Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents is the eighth volume in a series of documentary anthologies published on non-Western modern art, by MoMA.Made up of critical writing by some of the most celebrated Arab artists and scholars of the twentieth-century, many of the texts in this publication have been translated into English for the first time.Bisecting the empires, nations and diasporas of the modern Arab world, the collection of writings, which include essays, letters, manifestos and diary entries, maps out the formation and development of this fascinating movement.Edited by Anneka Lenssen, Sarah Rogers, and Nada Shabout, Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents is laid out chronologically and includes commentaries to aid readers in navigating its wide geographic and historical breadth.
MARCH 2020
ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS
First published in 2006, Nineteen diverse essays by writers including Eric Fischl, Suzaan Boettger, Stephen Weil and Richard Serra cover a broad range of topics facing today’s artists, policy makers, art lawyers, galleries, museum professionals, and many others. Readers will find expert insights on issues including the preservation of Iraqi heritage after the U.S. invasion; the role of new media; art and censorship; the impact of 9/11 on artists; authenticity and forgeries; cultural globalisation; fair use; how tax laws encourage donations of art to museums; where people buy art; the ethical codes of working art critics and more.
April 2020
Mahmoud Said: Catalogue Raisonne
By Valerie Didier Hess
Cataloguing every known work by the celebrated Egyptian master, Mahmoud Said (1897-1964), this handsome volume, written by Valerie Didier Hess and published by Skira, is the most in depth publication produced to date about the artist who is often considered to be the founder of modern Egyptian painting.
Mahmoud Said was born into the upper echelons of Alexandrian society, the son of former Egyptian Prime Minister, Mohamed Said Pacha, he was also the uncle of the future Queen Farida of Egypt. Said developed his own distinctive style rooted in Egyptian daily life and was influenced by his training in French, post-impressionist techniques having studies under the Italian painters, Arturo Zanieri and Amelia Casonato Da Forno. Said's artistic career emerged in conjunction with the rise of nationalism in Egypt and paved the way for the search for a national identity through art.
MAY 2020
Art of the Middle East
By Saeb Eigner
Published 2015
A beautifully illustrated volume providing an overview of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern art from 1945 to 2015, Art of the Middle East examines the regional art scene with a focus on key contemporary artists as well as discussing patronage, institutions, biennales and art fairs. This expanded edition (the original was published in 2010) features the work of 12 additional artists, as well as analysis on the impact of the revolutions of the Arab Spring which ignited in 2011. The featured artworks are divided into themed sections including portraiture, the body, conflict and war, literature and politics, with expanded texts providing insight on each artwork and the artist behind its creation.
June 2020
Adam Henein
An important monograph on the sculpture and painting of Adam Henein, one of Egypt's foremost contemporary artists, this volume is beautifully illustrated with Henein's sculptures, paintings, drawings and sketches, many of which have never been published before or since.
Published by SKIRA in 2005 in association with the Al-Mansouria Foundation (established in 1999 by HRH Princess Jawaher Bint Majed Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia), and edited by Mona Khazindar, this volume tells the fascinating story of the artist's hugely varied life and work, becoming one of the most valuable resources available on Adam Henein to date.
July 2020
Contemporary Arab Women's Art: Dialogues of the Present (Women's Art Library)
By Fran Loyd (Editor)
Published by the Woman's Art Library in 1999, this book explores the experiences and rich artistic practices of 18 female Arab and diaspora artists working at that time. Thoughtfully written, this important publication offers a unique insight into a generation of artists challenging the many stereotypes around women from the Arab world.
In Part One, authors including Siumee H. Keelan, Tina Sherwell and Salwa Nashashibi form cross-cultural dialogues informed by issues of gender, race, religion and culture, in essays such as: Cross-cultural dialogues - identities, contexts and meanings; Ensuring visibility - art, history and patronage; Bodies in representation - contemporary Arab women's art and Elements of empowerment - support systems in art practice.
Part 2, titled Diverse Bodies of Experience - 18 contemporary Arab artists - artists and audience focuses on the work and experiences of 18 exceptional female Arab artists.
August 2020
In Vested Interests: From Passion to Patronage.
The AbdulMagid Breish Collection of Arab Art.
Edited by Louisa Macmillan
Texts by AbdulMagid Breish, Nima Sagharchi, and Mysa Kafil-Hussain.
Published by Skira, this newly released book comprehensively charts the art investment strategy of Libyan banker and art collector and patron, AbdulMagid Breish.
A firm believer that collectors have a responsibility to support regional and local art scenes, Breish describes his own journey to becoming an art patron and collector.
Delivering an honest appraisal of the challenges of investing in art from the Middle East where issues of provenance often appear, Breish discusses how building prudent connections within the art world can diminish risk. From working with galleries and auction, to working directly with artists, the collector emphasises the importance of developing relationships in order to increase personal involvement. Breish’s own friendships with a number of artists has resulted in direct commissions, indirectly inspiring artistic practices.
Providing young collectors with an alternative strategy for collecting, Breish offers advice about how to develop a meaningful collection as well as useful guidance on how to avoid the numerous pitfalls present in the art market.
September 2020
Ways of Seeing
By John Berger
First published in 1972, John Berger's seminal, Ways of Seeing is widely considered to be one of the most important and influential books on the subject of art ever written. Based on the groundbreaking BBC television series in which Berger set out to demystify and democratise the experience of viewing art, Ways of Seeing fundamentally changed the discourse around visual culture, counteracting the traditionalist, Western-centric teachings of the time.
Using the observation that a child looks and recognises before it can speak, Berger, an art critic, painter and novelist posited that it is visual experience which fundamentally establishes our place in the surrounding world; that we may explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it.
October 2020
Contemporary Iranian Art: From the Street to the Studio
by Talinn Grigor
Published in 2014, this illustrated, comprehensive survey looks at the state sponsored art of the Islamic Republic, the flourishing avant-garde scene in Iran, and the prolific artistic production of the Iranian diaspora.
Divided into three sections―street, studio, and exile― Grigor, a distinguished associate professor at the Department of Fine Arts at Brandeis University, reveals how deeply Iranian art reflects the sociopolitical situation that has steered the country's recent history.
Providing insightful analysis of the inner-workings of artistic production in relation to the institutions of power in Iran, this book is an indispensable guide to the world of Iranian museums, galleries, art critics and curators, shedding light on the political implications of art, censorship, the art market and the complexities of artistic identity in exile.
November 2020
Arab Hurufiya: Art and Identity
by Charbel Dagher
Translation by Samir MahmoudPublished by Skira in 2016, Arab Hurufiya: Art and Identity discusses the history of the Hurufiya art movement in the Middle East.
Re-inventing Arabic calligraphy by blending the traditional and the contemporary, the letter and the sign in a way that the letter is perceived as an artistic form, not requiring to be read or understood, and focusing on the formal elements of the letter, Hurufiya or al-hurufiyyah al-'arabiyyah (Arabic letterism) became an established element in modern regional art during the mid-twentieth century. Written by Charbel Dagher, a professor at the University of Balamand, Koura, Lebanon, this publication discusses the inextricable links between Arabic identity and the letter and credits pioneering artists that have played a leading role in this movement such as Iraq’s Shakir Hassan Al Said and Dia al-Azzawi, Iran's Hossein Zenderoudi, Sudan's Ibrahim el-Salahi and Lebanon's Etel Adan, amongst many others.
Arabic Hurufism: Art and Identity is still considered to be one of the most important publications on the subject. Originally written in Arabic by Professor Dagher, in 1989, this seminal text was translated by Samir Mahmoud in order to reach a much wider audience and includes a preface by the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sultan Sooud Al-Qasami.