Hanan Bahamdan

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

Biography

Hanan Abdullah Bahamdan was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1966.^[1][2] Her father, Abdullah Bahamdan, previously served as chairman of the Saudi National Bank; her brother is the businessman and equestrian Kamal Bahamdan.^[3][4]

Bahamdan began painting in her early 20s.^[3] She first studied art and exhibited her work in Riyadh, holding her inaugural show at her own home in 1991.^[1][2][3] She earned a bachelor's in business administration from King Saud University.^[2][3]

She later moved to Egypt and London to work and study, spending two years under the mentorship of the Egyptian pastel artist Mohamed Sabry.^[1][2][3] She has a diploma in portraiture from London's Heatherley School of Fine Art.^[2][5]

Bahamdan is primarily known for her portraits.^[1][6] Arab News describes her work as "filled with a sense of suppressed agitation or latent distress through the disconcerted expressions of her subjects."^[7] 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.^{[1][2][3][6][8]} This body of work is documented in the 2009 book Art of Forgotten Faces.^[9]

Her work is held in various private collections as well as by Saudi Arabia's General Presidency for Youth Welfare and Ministry of Labor.^[2]

Selected exhibitions

• Atelier of Fine Arts, Jeddah, 2001^[2]
• The Plastic Arts Gallery at the Cairo Opera House, Cairo, 2005^[2][10]
• Hewar Art Gallery, Riyadh, 2009^[5][11]