Footnotes

Provenance:
Property from a private collection, UAE
Formerly in the Yousef Al-Khatib Collection, Egypt

Published:
Yousef Al Khatib, Dar Filistin (The House of Palestine), Yousef Al Khatib Foundation for Culture, Media and Art, 2011

Exhibited:
Visages de l'art contemporain Egyptien, Musée Galliera, Paris, 1971

A rare and large published painting by Hamed Nada, exhibited at a landmark show of Egyptian modernism in The Musee Galliera in Paris in 1971 and formerly in the collection of the renowned Palestinian poet Youssef Al-Khatib

"Any work of art that does not have surrealist elements is no work of art. In other words, no matter what colour or direction spontaneous expression takes, a work of art can't be devoid of the artist's subjectivity if it is true art." -Hamed Nada

"Battle for Liberation" is perhaps one of the most significant works by Hamed Nada to come to market in recent years. Large in scale and distinct in subject matter, the painting stands out for its distinguished provenance and its unique exhibition history, featuring in a highly significant 1970 showcase of Modern Egyptian art at Parises Musee Galliera (which now houses the fashion museum). The 1970 exhibition was celebrated for introducing European audiences to new voices of Egyptian art, and giving a fresh account of Egyptian visual culture which up to that point had only been represented by the ancient art and sculpture of the Pharaonic and the craft of the Islamic periods in European museums.

Battle for Liberation is a surreal and symbolic representation of the struggles faced by Arab peoples and mankind in general for freedom. Painted during a politically charged period, in 1970, during Egypts War of Attrition, the work depicts figures engaged in a struggle to achieve peace and fragmented surreal depictions of conflict and battle such as a figure galloping into a voide on horseback.

Hamed Nada was an integral member of the Contemporary Art Group founded by Hussein Youssef Amin (1904-1984) in 1944. The movement explored issues of social realism and surrealism. Like his mentor Youssef Amin, Nada was fascinated by the mural quality of children's drawings, which particularly impressed him while teaching art at primary school in the 1950s as proved by lack of perspective and the figure's stylisation in these works. From the mid-1950s onwards Nada to look at the work of Ragheb Ayad, from the first generation of Egyptian pioneer artists, who had reinterpreted pharaonic art in his portrayals of ordinary Egyptians. Also, for inspiration Nada looked to Nubian folk art and African primitive art.

Since the 1970s, Hamed Nada's oeuvre gradually shifted from tragic themes of the struggles of working-class subjects to more joyful and energetic scenes. The colours became more vibrant and the works displayed far more movement and rhythm than before. Both artworks provide you with a unique glimpse into the inner workings of Nada's lucid imagination and realisation of liberalised Egyptian men and women. A nouveau twist on ancient Egyptian art, Nada incorporates depictions of animals in his works reminiscent of hieroglyphics on ancient tombs, temples and cartouches. His use of animals further commemorates pharaonic mythology, where they existed both in reality and the celestial world.