Muscat, Nov 12 - To celebrate the 49th National Day of Oman, a collection of portraits of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos will be inaugurated on November 17 and will continue until November 21 at Opera Galleria in Muscat. Titled ‘Pride of the Nation’, the exhibition will feature 20 portraits by acclaimed mixed media artist Mahnoush Abbasgholy. The Iranian born artist has been in Oman for the last three years and her collection last year’s National Day was sold out in three days. Hussain al Lawati, Group CEO of Al Balushi Investment Group, said Mahnoush’s paintings are unique because of her techniques using gold and silver leaves add depth to her works.
“The Art Division headed by renowned Australian artist David Willis now also has Mahnoush Abbasgholy as a team member. We also have the aerial photography and last year we had launched the book Oman from the sky and the collection of the photography is now made available for others due to the inquiries that came up. To mark the National Day celebration we are presenting art work of Mahnoush,” said Al Lawati. Abbasgholy started her passion for painting as a young child, specialised in portraits and moved away to abstract, modern, contemporary and is now back with portraits.
“I have been struck by the genuine love and respect the people of Oman have for His Majesty. This motivated me to present an initial collection of my works a year ago on the occasion of the 48th National Day. This time around the paintings incorporate more detailing. Popular red and green colours have been integrated that contrast well with gold and silver,” she said.
Skilled in a wide range of artistic techniques, Mahnoush selects a photograph of His Majesty and recreates a life-like image of him. She then transforms the background with her own interpretation of colours and mixed media that makes the painting stand out. The collection marks the culmination of an extremely demanding six-months-long ‘labour of love’ that will go on display at the Opera Galleria.
“Because of the difference in texture of the media used you can see the details of the facial features where as the background is completely in contrast. I am trying my best to show what I feel through the paintings. At times I paint at a stretch up to ten hours and even 17 hours to complete the collection on time,” she said.
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