Poetry in Color

“To devote oneself to art means to make it a daily concern. It means cultural and intellectual depth, daring and experimentation and lifelong learning.”
- Fahad Hajailan

The late artist Fahad Hajailan sits firmly among the Saudi Arabia’s pioneering artists, not only for his artistic practice but also for his contributions within the nation’s cultural domain. 

Fahad Hajailan (1957-2018, born in Bilbeis, Egypt) is a Saudi painter, poet, and teacher whose artistic practice focused on form and color through the abstraction and manipulation of two-dimensional shapes and figures. His career spanned four decades of painting while based between Bilbeis, Riyadh, and Jeddah.

His practice was defined by constant research about the expressive properties of color and his bold reinterpretation of portraiture. Best-known for his female portraits, the works discussed in this book reflect Hajailan’s diverse subject matter and painting styles throughout his career. 

His portraits fluidly transition from figurative subjects—with their characteristic double-colored cheeks and profound eyes—to abstraction. In his abstract portraiture, figurative details disappear in favor of broad brushstrokes, geometric shapes, and indistinct colored spaces to suggest the female form. These portraits find a literary counterpart in Hajailan’s poetry, which constitutes an essential and complementary element of his practice.

"Fahad Hajailan: Poetry in Color" is edited by Mona Khazindar, and features written contributions by: Abdullah Humoud AlRasheed, Cecilia Ruggeri, Yousef Almohaimeed, and Abdulrahman Fahad Hajailan. The series is published by Rizzoli International Publications and is released in separate editions of Arabic and English. 

Exhibition
There will be an exhibition showcasing selected artworks featured in "Fahad Hajailan: Poetry in Color". For more information, visit our exhibition page. 

Get Your Copy:
- Masaha Giftshop, Prince Faisal bin Fahd Arts Hall, Riyadh.