From three Frida Kahlo paintings to a portrait of Sheikh Zayed featuring a piece of meteorite believed to be 4.3 billion years old, Sheikha Somayeh Noor’s private collection goes beyond what visitors might expect to find in an art gallery.
Sheikha Somayeh, founder and CEO of Noor Royal Holding, has spent nearly two decades building a collection that brings together art, history and cultural heritage.
The Noor Royal Collection includes works by Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Diego Rivera, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, alongside rare Qurans, Islamic manuscripts and the Kiswah of the Holy Kaaba. The collection is valued by Sheikha Somayeh’s team at $3.3 billion. But behind some of its biggest names are pieces that hold more personal meaning, alongside others that come with stories of their own.
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Sheikh Zayed and a 4.3-billion-year-old meteorite
One of the collection’s most striking portraits features the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, but the material used to create it is what makes the work stand out. Created by Australian artist Victor Pragas, Sheikh Zayed: The Rarity of Humanity uses fragments and finely powdered material from iron meteorites classified as Category IIICD, believed to be more than 4.3 billion years old. According to the museum, every black tone, metallic texture and stone element in the portrait was created using the material. The portrait is surrounded by cosmic imagery representing the universe and the origins of the meteorites.
Frida Kahlo
Three works by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo form part of the collection, with all three being Sheikha Somayeh’s favourite pieces in the museum. One is an intimate self-portrait, an oil on canvas work. The painting shows Kahlo surrounded by natural elements, with a bleeding necklace among the details used to represent pain.
According to the museum, the work combines realism and symbolism, reflecting themes of pain and resilience that appear throughout Kahlo’s art.
Barracuda With Red Sky
Colombian artist Alejandro Obregón’s Barracuda With Red Sky, dated 1988, stands out partly because of what surrounds the painting.
The work shows a barracuda against a fiery red sky, with the fish reflecting Obregón’s recurring use of animals and marine life to explore ideas of strength, struggle and the forces of nature.
Its unusually shaped frame also forms part of the story. According to the museum guide, Obregón made the frame himself, shaping it like waves to represent the relationship between the fish and the sea.
The frame was intended to be part of the artwork rather than simply surround it, with the two designed to complete one another.
Flor
Another Obregón work in the collection is Flor, which dates to around 1970. The work places a single flower at the centre of a garden, surrounded by other plants.
According to the museum guide, the idea behind the piece is a unique flower standing out from everything else around it, with the surrounding plants appearing to turn towards it.
Paris Landscape
Picasso, Kahlo and Monet may be among the collection’s biggest names, but the museum guide’s favourite is a more unexpected choice.
He chose Camille Pissarro’s Paris Landscape, one of the smallest works in the collection. The oil on canvas painting dates to 1880 and captures a nineteenth century Paris scene, with Pissarro using loose brushstrokes and light and shadow to depict the city’s architecture and everyday life.
The collection also includes another Pissarro work depicting Notre Dame. According to the guide, Pissarro painted the scene from memory while his vision was impaired.
Cubist Character
Mexican artist Diego Rivera is represented through Cubist Character, an oil on canvas work dating to 1915.
The painting comes from Rivera’s European Cubist period, when he was living in Paris and moving within the city’s avant-garde art circles.
According to the gallery, Rivera was influenced by Pablo Picasso and other leading Cubist artists as he attempted to break away from traditional perspectives.
The work is a relatively small piece and shows a very different side of an artist who would later become particularly known for his large scale murals.
Rare Qurans and the Kiswah of the Holy Kaaba
The ground floor takes the collection in a different direction, shifting the focus towards Sheikha Somayeh’s collection of Islamic pieces.
Among them are rare and illuminated Qurans from different time periods, alongside Islamic manuscripts and a complete Kiswa of the Holy Kaaba.
The Islamic collection drew a particularly emotional response, with several visitors saying they felt shivers as they stood surrounded by the sacred pieces.
For Sheikha Somayeh, collecting also connects with her career in finance.
The founder, chairwoman and CEO of Noor Royal Holding has advocated for art to be viewed not only for its cultural importance, but also as an alternative form of investment and long-term wealth.
Her approach brings together investment and cultural preservation, with a collection built over nearly two decades that now spans some of the world’s best known artists as well as religious and historical pieces.
From Frida Kahlo, Picasso and Pissarro to rare Qurans, it is a true treasure trove.
Source: Khaleej Times