The passing of “Saudi Paul Cézanne and its Mona Lisa” Safia Binzagr

I described Saudi Arabia And its most prominent intellectuals, headed by the Minister of Culture, Prince Badr bin Farhan, and the plastic artist Safiya bin Zaqr, who passed away at the age of 84 after a long career during which she contributed to establishing the plastic arts movement in the country.

The minister wrote Culture After offering his condolences to her family, “Our condolences to culture” for the passing of Safia Bin Zaqr. Other intellectuals participated in the hashtag that bore her name and was overshadowed by expressions of sadness and condolences via the “X” platform.

Wasfia Binzagr, who traveled the world with her brush, disappeared from sight in her last years, leaving people with the fruits of more than six decades of art, painting and giving. In the face of this isolation, she used to repeat throughout her life the saying, “Art is always for the people, and people are past, present and future.” This phrase inspired her to continue her dreams of building an empire of art and memories.

The Saudi artist was born in the Al-Sham neighborhood in the city of Jeddah in the west of the country in 1940. When she was seven years old, she moved with her family to Cairo, where she studied middle and high school until 1960.

She then continued to develop and shape her talent by studying in Britain, where she stayed for three years before joining Saint Martin’s College of Art in London for a two-year study program, after which she obtained a degree in drawing and graphic arts.

She is the first Saudi artist to receive academic education in the art of painting and the first Saudi artist to hold an exhibition of her artwork.

In the sixties of the last century, the era in which she began to set sail for her ateliers, there were no galleries in the country specializing in drawing and paintings, but this was not an obstacle for her, as she held her first solo exhibition in 1968 at the Modern Education House in Jeddah. At that time, she began touring the world with her exhibitions that she held in Paris, Geneva and London, so much so that one of her famous paintings was given the title “Hijazi Mona Lisa” after an exhibition she held near the Seine River in France.

After 18 solo exhibitions and six group exhibitions, she established the “Safiya Binzagr House,” which she opened in early 2000. It includes her paintings and artistic collections, as well as her studio and private library. The house receives visitors and researchers, and holds artistic and educational workshops for adults and children, as well as cultural and artistic lectures for those interested in…Literature And the visual arts.

She taught children her talent.

Safia Binzagr used her talent to teach children how to draw on the shores of Jeddah, facing the raging Red Sea, when she set up an open-air studio in 2001 that brought together boys and girls.

It was clear that Bin Zaqr was influenced in some of her drawings by the city of Jeddah and its old neighborhoods, as she showed various folkloric aspects of the social and cultural life in the city, embodying its environment, fashions, ancient architectural windows, decorated windows, and its heritage, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) classified as part of the lists of tangible heritage that has been destined to be immortal.

Some of her artworks were acquired in America, England, Japan, Sweden, Spain and Lebanon. The deceased also supported UNESCO and charitable organizations by producing her works in the form of cards to be sold for charity.

Saudi writer Abdullah Al-Ghadami wrote about her hours after her passing: “She departed to her Creator after enriching our culture with her vibrant art and pioneering products, and embroidering the memory of culture with the brush of creativity, the poetry of color, and the beauty of imagination.” He added: “Her paintings will continue to tell successive generations the meanings of giving and talent.”

The ancient painter was highly regarded by the country’s leaders and rulers, as she was honoured by the Saudi monarch, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, with the King Abdulaziz Medal in 2016, adding the medal to other prestigious medals and awards, including the “Cup and Diploma de Excellence” from Grulladura in 1982 in Italy.

Bin Zaqr has contributed to judging many art exhibitions for youth and children, and has an artistic, literary and cultural council that meets monthly.

Influenced by the Impressionists

Critics believe that Bin Zagr was influenced by the styles of great impressionist artists such as Fra Angelico and Cézanne. The influence of East Asian art was evident in the colouring of her paintings such as “Bedouin Woman”, but they said that after she matured she succeeded in getting rid of this influence until she developed her own independent style.

her own style

In a brief biography published by the deceased on her website, she responded to the extent of her influence by the styles of others, saying, “The art created by the fingers of Safia Bin Zaqr does not recall a specific artist or a specific school. Although she was influenced by other artists, her style used academic and research data and selected the best of them, then harnessed them to serve a specific purpose, which is to give the heritage scenes of her country credibility and vitality and preserve their distinctive splendor.”

Safiya diversifies her artistic tools according to the diversity of her subjects. She usually resorts to quick, preliminary drawings from photographs, and uses references, books, and stories from her ancestors.

It is noteworthy that the British Museum in London houses many works by the artist, consisting of 38 “engraving” photographs, as she documented through this work the “dress heritage” in Saudi Arabia, and this is the first time that the international museum has displayed this type of heritage.

Safia Binzagr passed away, leaving behind her house for future generations, which documents, along with her paintings, the rarest heritage pieces, some of which date back more than 100 years.